


A little late

by niamcuddles



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-17
Updated: 2014-06-01
Packaged: 2018-01-25 12:22:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 64,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1648460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/niamcuddles/pseuds/niamcuddles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam is kinda unsure about everything and he kinda hates that blonde, rich, stupid boy but Niall couldn't care less because being clingy is just in his nature.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this to avoid studying for finals, I hope some of you enjoy what I do to procrastinate important work. It gets smutty in the last chapter, that's all the warnings I have, it's a bit silly at times too, I was having a laugh writing this tbh. I got the whole thing written already, so updates regularly.

Maybe it was the way that no matter if it was summer or winter or whatever weather, he still managed to look both like the most gorgeous person you had ever seen but also like the kindest and most trustworthy, you just wanted to pour your heart out to this boy and do everything he wanted you to just so that you could get his approval and friendship. At least that's everything Liam's observation had brought him in the past three years, not that he was particularly interested in Niall Horan, quite the opposite actually. Which left him as pretty much the only person that wasn't ready to kiss the blonde's ass, he wasn't even naturally blonde, he _dyed_ his hair. If anyone else would've done that, they would've gotten teased for so long they'd rather shave their head completely, but no, of course if Niall fucking Horan did it, that was alright. God, Liam hated this kid. "Please say that again, just so I can make sure that you have really gone nuts before sending you to therapy." 

"We have decided that we wanna go to the party on friday." Zayn spoke without hesitating, referring to himself and Harry, who was trying hard not to fall off the bench while keeping an eye on his crush all across the school grounds. "God, Harry, just go over to him and say something, we're seniors now, that's your last chance before Tomlinson is off to god knows where."

"London, he's going to London…" The other boy mumbled, making Liam groan internally, what was the matter with his friends, if they weren't the two most important people in his life, he would've long started yelling at them to finally listen to his words. But actually no, Liam wasn't someone to get loud or mean, so he also didn't comment on Harry getting heart eyes, instead he tried to think of the best way to get that stupid idea out of Zayn's head. "Isn't that so cool? He's so smart, he's getting an internship."

"You could get an internship too, if you studied instead of dreaming over Louis, and if you stopped texting me and Liam at night to talk about him some more." Not that he didn't do that enough already, Zayn and Liam shared a look since their friend had long zoned out again, resting his chin on his folded arms.

"Well, anyway…" Liam threw in, seeing his chance in the short silence, Zayn _must’ve_ been joking about this whole thing, he couldn't be serious. "About going to the party-"

"You don't have to go, Liam, I just said me and Harry are going and you can come too if you want to. It's not a must." Which was exactly the problem, it made Liam worried, that his only friends would be going somewhere with all he popular kids and then what if they forgot about him? What if they were gonna be too cool to speak to him again afterwards?

"But why? All Harry is gonna do is drool over his crush and then not talk to him anyway, are you really up for that?" This was his last straw and seeing Zayn roll his eyes and taking his phone out made it pretty clear that none of his arguments were working in the slightest bit.

"Maybe he's not the only one who hopes to see someone there, ever thought about that?" That was the thing with Zayn, he didn't like to share private things with his friends, and then if he did he just threw them into the conversation without a second thought, acting like it was no big deal when both Harry and Liam stared at him in shock. Because… what? 

"You-"

"Who is it?!" Harry shamelessly cut Liam off, immediately grabbing Zayn's arm, his eyes lighting up as if this was good news. Maybe to him, but definitely not to Liam, what was with his friends falling in love suddenly? Now he'd HAVE to go to the party or Zayn would never tell him and then Harry and him would become best friends without Liam, why'd he have to be so insecure about everything?

"I'll show you there, alright? I'll show both of you, if you come too, Liam, I know parties are not your thing and that you are the founder of the anti-Niall Horan club-"

"I'm not-"

"…but it'll be fun, we're there too, right? Maybe you'll meet someone too, who knows. Would be about time." The last sentence made Harry hide his giggle with a cough and Liam's heart dropped, it wasn't his fault that he had never been in a relationship, not a serious one anyway, maybe if he went to the party Zayn and Harry would stop teasing him about never going out or never having a crush on anybody.

"Yeah, alright." Instantly after agreeing and Harry starting to have a monologue about his plans to get Louis to notice him, Liam started cursing himself silently, he shouldn't have agreed and he knew he'd regret it.

Looking over to the seniors who were sitting by the big tree and taking the only spot with at least a little bit of shadow, it got even clearer that this was not the group of people Liam would ever fit into. Not even talking about their parties, or actually Niall Horan's parties, because that seemed to be the place to be, ever since sophomore year.

The blonde was currently lying on his back, with his friends sitting beside him as if they were drawn to him against their will or something, as if he was their god, it had always seemed quite weird to Liam, that everyone acted as if they would take a bullet for Niall within a heartbeat.

Sure, the skinny jeans he always wore that tightly hugged his more than perfect legs and the tank tops that revealed way too much or the snapbacks that hid his hair whenever it wasn't perfectly styled (which was probably impossible anyway) made Niall quite a sight. And his face somehow looked as if it had been carved by angels too, but that was it, really.

Well, his dad may be the richest man in town as well and obviously Niall must be a funny guy because Liam could always hear everyone laughing when Niall and his followers walked past, but other than that, there weren't any good characteristics about the boy. He looked down on everyone, and he bragged all the time with his stupid designer clothes from New York or god knows where, maybe he wrote straight A's, but that didn't stop him from calling people nerds in class. Or at least he always whispered to his friends after someone said something smart and then everyone started giggling. Of course, Niall never got into any trouble even though he had caused it, he was a sneaky bastard and the teacher adored him just as much as the students.

Why was Liam the only one who could see what Niall was really like? A spoiled brat that he would love to punch in the face. Well, if Liam would ever be able to hurt someone, because he wasn't, but if he could choose someone, it would be Horan.

———

"So we can just go to his party even though we're not invited?" This had somehow been on Liam's mind the whole day long, actually the whole week, ever since he had agreed to go through with this. Wouldn't it be embarrassing to just show up? What if Niall got mad? It was his parents' house after all and he probably didn't even know who any of them were. He probably didn't even know half the people who called themselves his 'friends'. Because that would be the whole school.

"No one ever gets invited to his parties, his friends or whatever spread it in school and then everyone just kinda shows up." Harry explained, not before turning in the front seat and rolling his eyes at Liam, as if this was common knowledge. Well, obviously it was.

"That's just stupid, who does he think he is? The Great Gatsby or something?" It had sounded like a good joke in Liam's head, and even though Zayn chuckled shortly before going back to watching the road since he was the one driving, they all quickly got serious again after he stopped the car. "Wow, I didn't think I was so close to the truth. No wonder everyone wants to be his friend." 

The house was massive, or maybe it wasn't even THAT impressive, maybe it was just because Liam lived in a block of flats and his room couldn't fit more than a bed and a closet, but still, Niall lived in a mansion. It was different seeing him arrive to school in a way too expensive car and getting out wearing 500 pounds sneakers, but realizing how different his life must be from everyone else's was mind blowing. All the people and the noise kinda made Liam think about how lonely it must be when they were all gone. Not that Niall was ever alone probably, his friends must constantly be over and his family was probably really close as well too, why else would Niall be allowed to throw parties like this one every second friday?

"Alright, if any of you see Louis then tell me, and Zayn, I believe you got someone to show us." They had slowly gotten out of the car, Liam as the last one, he was kinda unsure, maybe he shouldn't be here, he could still drive back and pick the other two up later, Zayn wouldn't mind borrowing him his car.

"Yeah… we'll see about that." Before Harry could protest about the lack of enthusiasm over his plans from Zayn, the other boy smirked at him and Liam. "Come on then, we gotta celebrate Liam finally agreeing to go out with us. You're gonna have a drink with us, won't you?"

Before Liam could tell him that no, he wouldn't have a drink with anyone, Zayn had already pulled him along by his wrist, killing every chance of getting an answer because there was just too much noise to talk normally and too many people to take a step without bumping into anyone you didn't really want to bump into. This was Liam's personal hell.

It's not that he had a problem with touching or with talking to people, just so many interaction in one spot was something he wasn't exactly used to. Sure, he had gone out with Zayn and Harry a few times, but they had eventually stopped asking after he had started to decline every single time. Neither of them were really used to big parties and to hang out with people from school or keen on being among the poplar students, which was exactly why they were Liam's best friends. But obviously their preferences had changed now and it made Liam wanna smash his head into something like that drunk guy over there, he shouldn't have come.

"Liam, oh my god, look!" Harry squealed suddenly, grabbing a hold of Liam's hand unexpectedly, not that anyone would've cared or seen, you could hardly tell which limbs belonged to who between all those people, and they were only in the entrance hall.

"What?" Liam could've guessed what had gotten his friend so excited, he still asked back just to have Harry pointing somewhere with his free hand. Well, at someone, of course. "He looks pretty wasted."

"Perfect, now he's less likely to notice me blushing, I'll have to go get myself a drink… where's Zayn?" Obviously, Harry's 'I' included Liam as well, because he still hadn't gotten his hand back and was being pulled away from a way too loudly laughing Louis, past a few girls that made Liam's mature side kick in immediately, they looked barely 15, and maybe, just maybe, he thought about calling them a taxi to make sure they got home safe. That was why people called Liam tight up and boring, because if someone's parents showed up later, it was most likely Liam who had called them, he just couldn't help worrying so much about people, even strangers.

Zayn had disappeared somewhere and Harry didn't seem to care very much, his hand was sweaty in Liam's, usually he would've pulled away by now but the thought of losing Harry between all those people made him hold on even tighter while trying his best to not accidentally push too many people even though no one really cared that much anyway. "Li, you're squishing my hand."

That had Liam turning red immediately, Harry was completely right but that didn't mean he'd let go. "Sorry, I just… I thought that in case Louis thinks you're straight, his doubts are gone now if he sees us holding hands."

"But everyone knows I'm gay already. I don't want anyone thinking that we're together or something, no offense." With that, he pulled away, but luckily they had already reached the kitchen. At least it looked like a kitchen, it was just ten sizes too big maybe and overcrowded as well, but not as much as the living room that they had crossed before. It was easier to keep an eye on Harry and follow him around much to Liam's relief, what else could he have done here anyway, he might as well try and help his friend.

"So… what do you plan on saying to Louis?" He wouldn't be able to give Harry any advice, he was probably the most inexperienced person alive if it came to topics like love, but Harry would be happy if he showed interest.

"Umm… I haven't really thought about it yet, I was kinda planning on getting so wasted that I won't care anymore about what I do. Mostly, I was just hoping for a drunken snog that only I remember." While explaining this, he managed to get a glass full of something that most likely wasn't water and Liam couldn't even understand half of what he had said, it was just too loud.

"Right, but… but maybe it would just be easier to talk to him in school, like… like normal topics, I mean… if you become friends first and under normal conditions without anyone being drunk then-"

"Then he probably won't even be interested in me. I'll just try my luck and-" Harry stopped talking to empty half the glass in his mouth and swallowing quickly after his face scrunching up a bit. "And see what happens."

"Oh… do you need my help?" On one hand Liam really wanted to help, on the other all he would do was stand next to Harry and not say a word and then probably ruin it for him. Awesome, this was exactly how he had thought this would go, everyone taking off and doing their thing and leaving him to himself.

"Well, I…" Now Harry was biting his bottom lip nervously, Liam already prepared himself for going back to Zayn's car and maybe sitting there for the next six hours or something, but then he got surprised by Harry taking an almost inaudible breath, as if this was really hard for him to say. "Sure, come on. You can… jump in in case I mess up and say something dumb or just don't say anything at all?"

"Yeah, I can do that." They smiled at each other shortly, Liam very relieved even though he knew he was just allowed to come because his friend pitied him, and Harry obviously very unsure about what he had just said. Maybe he'd be thankful at some point, if Liam prevented that he got completely shitfaced and hung all over Louis, which was very likely to happen.

Right before they were about to go back to where they had seen Louis before, they actually nearly bumped right into him in the doorway, he was yelling something rather inappropriate to someone behind him and didn't watch his step which caused Harry to empty the last third of his drink right on his crush's shirt. "Shit, I… I'm so sorry, I-"

It was kind of out of instinct that Liam grabbed the glass out of Harry's hand, seeing how pale and embarrassed he was was definitely no good start to talk to Louis, so Liam decided to take the blame instead of his best friend. To at least be good for something after all. "Sorry, Louis, won't happen again."

At first, nothing happened, Liam kinda thought that Louis would hit him or so, because his facial expressions were undefinable as he examined his shirt a bit before looking up and bursting out into laughter. "That's alright. How do you even know my name?"

Well fuck, Louis had placed his hand on Liam's shoulder and it wasn't hard to tell that Harry would combust any second if Louis wouldn't soon start paying attention to him instead. That was one way to mess up for Liam, he really was good for nothing, was he. "I just, I… well actually I just guessed."

It was probably the alcohol that made Louis laugh out loud again, it hadn't even been Liam's intend to say something funny, hell, his jokes sucked 99% of the time but Harry still stomped so hard onto his foot that tears were forming in Liam's eyes. "Well, you guessed right. What were you even drinking, smells like-"

"It wasn't even my drink, it was Harry's. You know Harry? He told me he's got biology with you." In a pathetic attempt to make up for what he had done, Liam put his arm around Harry's shoulders, pulling him to his side and into Louis' view, immediately causing the younger to blush hard, mumbling something that didn't even sound close to 'Hi'.

"Let me think…" And then Louis actually stopped to think about it, way too long and sure, he was obviously at least a little bit drunk but it was still almost offensive how long he needed to remember Harry. Liam should've just pushed Harry into Louis and then run away or something, he was so bad at playing matchmaker, he wouldn't even be surprised if Harry would end their friendship any second and start crying. "Right. Harry Styles, isn't it?"

"Um, yeah." Harry gulped, squirming slightly under Liam's grip, as if he wanted to leave but didn't manage to, so he gave up, staring at the ground defeatedly and missing out on the smile Louis gave him. Why couldn't Liam just put everything on one card and say something like 'he's been crushing on you since freshman year'?

"Cool. I've never seen you guys at any party before. Aren't you always hanging out with this other kid… the one with the tattoos?" Well, that was something, he must've noticed them at least one time if he knew that, maybe there was still hope for Harry, he had stopped trying to get away from Liam now, not relaxing in any way though which made Liam sigh slightly, he needed to get away from here.

"Yeah, Zayn. He's got to be here somewhere… well, anyway, are you like, good friends with Niall?" It was kinda amusing how this was the first time Niall's name came up, they hadn't even seen Niall anywhere here, considering this was his house and his party, it did seem kinda strange now that Liam thought about it. Well, he probably was upstairs or something, maybe he had gotten tired of the parties seeing as he experienced them every weekend. But then again, so did everyone else apparently.

"Sometimes. But I know this house quite well… I can show you around, it's really big, you gotta see the basement, man, it's twice the size of my house!" Well, Liam had no idea what Louis' house looked like but he smiled while Harry began trembling slightly next to him, probably mentally drawing a map of Louis' place because he had stalked him so often.

"Well, I actually gotta go outside and call someone really quick, but I bet Harry would like to see it too." This was really as obvious as it could get, but due to the fact that Harry had fallen into silence or shock, maybe both, and Louis' cheeks were all pink from drinking so much, none of them noticed.

"Sure thing. Oh, you gotta see the fucking pool too! Last summer this girl nearly drowned in it and Niall had to jump in and get her out because she was so drunk and he got so mad that no one is allowed to go inside anymore." Niall Horan responsible? Had Liam just heard that right, HE had jumped in? Probably only because if she had died and the police would've come then he would've been in more than big trouble, right, that must've been it.

"Sounds pretty intense. I'll find you guys in a bit, okay?" He didn't plan on ever finding them again, he just gently shoved Harry away from him while Louis just barely nodded at him, already falling into another story.

They disappeared between all the people within seconds, Harry's walk was a bit odd and robotic while Louis nearly hit people in the face with his way to use is hands while talking, but at least they were together and it made Liam smile slightly.

For about twelve seconds, because that's how long it took to hit him that now he was all alone, well, not literally, he knew a lot of the people who were there, not personally, but from seeing them at school. He doubted that that was mutual though, no one ever really payed attention to Liam, and maybe he kinda liked that. Most of the time anyway.

It would've gotten hard to just stay in one place or just sit somewhere without getting a pounding in your head, so Liam looked around the house a bit, as far as that was possible, noticing some pictures on the walls of Niall's parents, and Niall himself and what he thought must be his older brother. Obviously, being as rich as they were, they liked to go to photoshoots and show everyone how perfect they all looked, probably sending pictures of themselves as Christmas Cars and all that. Liam would've laughed about it if seeing Niall's school picture from only a month ago hadn't left him staring a bit longer than he would've liked. But damn, it was no crime admitting that someone you hate looks good, or was it?

Just a second, he thought he caught a look on Zayn talking to some girl, but since he wouldn't disturb them anyway if he was right, he didn't try to get closer, just deciding to go upstairs because after about 45 minutes, he really needed the toilet and even though there were five downstairs, they were all full.

There were a lot less people up here, mostly people who were snogging while leaning against the wall, Liam made sure to walk past quickly, pretty relieved when he finally found a bathroom, which luckily had an open door. How awkward would it have been if he had just walked in on like, Niall doing things with some girl in HIS room? Oh god.

When Liam was done and washing his hands, maybe wasting a bit more time than necessary to avoid going downstairs again, he heard a few voices, maybe around the corner or something, making him freeze in his movements for a second as he listened. It sounded like a fight or something. "… yeah, okay, just leave me alone now please."

"I won't! You can't just treat people like that, you hooked up with my sister, you hooked up with my best friend, and now you tried hooking up with me! Do you have some kind of a problem?!" The girl's voice was pretty high, her voice stopped making sense a bit to Liam at some point, he was guessing that she was really drunk, but maybe he was imaging that, whoever these people were, they definitely had problems.

"I said leave, alright? I never promised your sister and your best friend or whoever anything, there's no need to make a scene now, you said you didn't want anything and I respected that, besides, you slapped me in the face five minutes ago, so who's the real victim here? I really gotta use the bathroom now so unless you changed your mind and want to see me naked after all I suggest you go, bye." Without really thinking about how close the voices had come, Liam unlocked the door, about to go outside when he realized he had forgotten his phone next to the sink, right, how stupid would that have been … 

"But you can't-"

"I said _goodbye_!" And then Liam's eyes went wide, actually, they nearly popped out because who the hell would've thought that one, that person outside would go for THIS bathroom and lock the door behind them and two, that it was _Niall Horan_. Liam froze completely, the boy hadn't even noticed him standing there, he was just leaning against the door with his back, pressing his eyes closed for a few seconds, probably to ignore the screaming outside.

"FUCK YOU, NIALL!" There was a bang against the door that had Liam flinching and Niall sighing quietly before opening his eyes slowly, nearly falling backwards into the more than oversized bathtub.

"Jesus! What the hell mate, why didn't you lock the door?!" They had never spoken a word to each other, Niall had never even looked at Liam one single time and if Liam wouldn't have glared at the blonde boy through class or the hallways occasionally, he would've been able to say the same. Right, he hated this kid, that was the only reason why he didn't even think about apologizing or letting himself being yelled at.

"Well, I did lock the door but who would've known that you would burst into here like five seconds after I unlock it again?" Maybe he should've left, but then again, he had been here first.

Niall studied his face for a second, then suddenly, all the anger seemed to fall off of him at once and he just shrugged, sitting on the closed toilet lid. "Yeah whatever, you can't go outside now, this girl is throwing a fit and I can't have her come in here, I've got a feeling she's hiding behind the corner or something."

"Why do I have to stay here then? That's your problem, not mine." God, Niall was so fucking cocky, which didn't mean that Liam wasn't allowed to look at him, right? Because that boy looked really good in tight jeans and a white shirt, no denying, the only thing distracting from his flawless appearance was the red spot on his cheek that he kept rubbing, even while rolling his eyes at Liam.

"It's boring waiting in here alone, you can keep me company." And then there was a smile, he fucking SMILED, and Liam couldn't believe it, that smug look on Niall's face made him want to punch it right out of him, his hands even formed into fists, very unusual Liam-behavior.

"Why would I want to do that?" His voice didn't sound as annoyed as he wanted it to, but it did make Niall look away from the bathroom tiles in confusion, not saying anything for a bit until he tried his million-dollar smile again. Too bad it wouldn't work on Liam.

"'cause we're friends?" It hit him right there, that Niall actually and truly thought Liam was one of those people who would offer to wipe Niall's ass just because he felt too tired to do it himself and because they desperately wanted him to like them. He thought that even though he clearly had no clue who Liam even was that he could still get his will, just because he was Niall Horan and he got everything, there was the proof, he was the biggest douchebag alive. A good fucking looking one, but nevertheless a douche.

"Really? What's my name then?" Liam had thought that it was a smart thing to ask, that it would throw Niall off track, but he actually just shrugged slightly, letting his hand sink and revealing a red spot that looked a lot like someone had punched him. That girl outside deserved a medal.

"Umm… Ethan? Josh? Tom?" This couldn't be happening, he was shamelessly _guessing_ names, not even trying to talk himself out of it.

"Are you kidding me?" The boy had to be making fun of Liam because this could NOT be happening right now, he would've expected Niall to throw him out, if he had ever dreamed about getting into a situation like this, but he was even more ruthless than he had thought.

"Just tell me your name then, if you're so keen on me knowing, jesus…" Niall had just turned everything around, completely calm, he even got up to walk over and examine his face in the mirror, not looking at Liam anymore who thought he'd have to pass out from how mad he was.

"It's Liam. And I'm not your friend." Still, he remained next to the sink, not moving an inch or attempting to leave, he had to reach his new personal goal first and get Niall to drop his calm facade and get mad at him, he would rather fight with Niall than having him talk to him like this. And again, that was a side of Liam that as new even to him, this kid just drove him insane.

"Well… then what are you doing here? This is kinda my house, you know." Right, the plan had a few cracks still, besides, if anything, Niall looked pretty confused now instead of angry, he was just looking at Liam, as if he waited for a serious explanation now. 

That kinda threw Liam off track, this WAS Niall's house, and they were in his bathroom fighting because Liam had gone to someone's party who he actually hated, how fucked up could this get? "I… my friends dragged me here, I… trust me, I would've never come here out of my own will."

"So, you've never been at my house before? Have we ever actually spoken to each other before?" It was like, the anger in Liam's tone went right past Niall, there was something wrong with this boy, there had to be, he was cocking his head slightly while studying Liam's face again as he shook his head, trying not to think of Niall as gorgeous looking right now. But he was. "Who are your friends?" 

"Uh… Zayn and Harry." Why was he running out of words to say now, just fucking focus, Liam.

"Right, that's funny, I've seen a Harry downstairs just before, he was with my pal Louis and they were drunk as hell." What?! "Speaking of drunk, do you wanna have a drink?"

"I… what?" Liam was still stuck with trying to decide whether he was happy about what Harry was doing right now or not while Niall was already about to unlock the door, waiting for him to do something, maybe follow him, why would he though.

"A drink. You wanna have one? There's only cheap stuff down there but I thought we could go to my dad's office." That didn't clear anything up, Liam just nodded to get another one of Niall's smiles before following him out of the bathroom, walking much like Harry had before, it was just, what the hell was happening here? 

On their way, Niall shouted something to some people passing by, he managed to crack one joke after another to all of them and make them laugh, it was like he was a sun or something, brightening everyone's face with just walking by, it was really weird for Liam to experience, and while following the boy through the massive house until they walked into a room that looked like another living room. The fact that Niall closed the door behind them was more than worrying. "What…"

"Can't have anyone drunk in here, my dad's gonna freak the hell out, I'm not even supposed to be in here." Then he laughed loudly before pulling a key out of his jeans and walking across the room to lock up yet another door before leaning against the frame and smirking at Liam who hadn't even taken two steps. "You know, since it's your first time at my house, I thought I'd make sure you remember it and let you have some of the expensive stuff, how's that sound?"

"I… I don't even drink." Liam stated bluntly, none of this would get into his head, he still hated Niall, he was just too shocked to be rude now, actually, he waited for the other boy to laugh, but he just shrugged at the answer.

"Your decision. I drink though." As expected.

So while Niall disappeared in the other room, Liam slowly made his way across, not without looking around a bit, everything in here looked so expensive, he was nearly too concerned about making anything dirty as to step on the carpet. This family must be showering themselves in money or something, there was no doubt, no wonder Niall was so cocky and full of himself, sure, Liam had known that before, but he had gotten proof now. And yet he was still here.

When Niall came back, he was holding a bottle, a big grin painted across his face as he locked the door up again, letting himself drop onto one of the couches instead and gesturing for Liam to do the same. It made no sense at all, there were probably hundreds of people down there that Niall knew better yet he still stayed here with Liam. Right, he wouldn't feel special now, what was so great about Horan anyway, he was just staying because he had nothing better to do and besides, it would be rude to leave.

"So…" Niall started, not commenting on Liam taking the other couch, but opening the bottle instead and making himself more comfortable while watching something on the wall that looked like an award or so. "Tell me something about yourself."

"Umm… like what?" Not that there was anything interesting about Liam to say, he wouldn't have been able to think of it anyway because this had come out of nowhere.

"Like, how old are you, where do you live, I'm just curious, I mean, you probably know a lot more about me." After a second of Liam nearly getting mad, he realized that Niall hadn't been trying to sound self centered by saying that, well, it was true somehow anyway, because everyone knew about Niall, so he took a breath.

"Well, I… I'm 18 and… you know that… block of flats near the sports center? I live there." For a second, Liam felt his cheeks heating up about admitting to Niall that he lived in one of the cheaper areas, considering the fact that they were having this conversation in a million pounds house, but the thing about Niall was that he didn't laugh like expected or even make a joke, he just thought about it for a second, then he nodded. 

"Yeah, I think I know that." The sip he took from his bottle was rather big, he didn't even flinch while swallowing all of it like Harry had before, maybe the stuff Niall was drinking tasted better. Or maybe he was just used to it. "Do we have any classes together? You're a senior, aren't you?"

"Um, yeah, I am… and yes, I think… english and P.E." Actually, Liam didn't only THINK so, because he was painfully aware of them having P.E. together and changing in the same room since two years. it was kinda… a little bit intimidating to go for runs all the time and try to be fit just so that the pretty boy with hardly any muscles and a flat but pale stomach got all the compliments on how great he looked. Not that Liam cared.

"Oh, cool. Right! I remember, you're the one that ran the fastest on this 100 meters thing, aren't you?" Liam didn't want to smile back at Niall, he really didn't but he couldn't help himself but feel his stomach turn a little bit over the fact that Niall remembered something like this and sounded so excited while saying it. Shit, he couldn't get lulled in by the boy, this was what he was doing to everyone else too, this was why he was so popular, he just always knew the right thing to say.

"Y-Yeah… I should probably, umm… go downstairs again and look for Harry and Zayn… " Leaving was the last thing he wanted which was exactly why he should have left in the first place, but Niall immediately had his mouth open, before Liam could even do as much as prepare himself for standing up.

"Why don't you stay? It's madness down there today, usually there's not that many people." Niall shook his head slowly, as if he hated this just as much as Liam, taking another too big sip of the bottle. It was nearly half empty already, showing in his voice now when he spoke up again. "Y'know… next time me parents are away, I bet there'll be less people, you should come."

That was about the last thing on Liam's mind, instead of saying that though, he just blurted something completely different out, even if he was kinda embarrassed for noticing. "You're irish, aren't you?"

This time, Niall was truly surprised for a second, staring at Liam with wide eyes before letting out a laugh that sounded anything besides sober. "Yeah! How'd ya' notice?"

"You've got an accent…" When you're drunk, Liam added mentally, smiling back at Niall slightly, worriedly watching him drinking some more. If this carried on then he didn't know whether he wanted to be here anymore, he knew what happened when Harry and Zayn got drunk, even though their behaviors were completely different when intoxicated, but it wasn't really fun to deal with either way. Only difference, they were his friends, and Niall was… well, Niall.

"Hardly anyone notices, that's funny." There was a smash when he placed the bottle on the glass table, making Liam flinch slightly, not as much as he did when Niall stood up and let himself fall next to Liam on the couch though. What the hell, he wouldn't… "D'ya have a girlfriend, Liam?"

"Umm… I-I don't…" Liam swallowed, trying to scoot away from Niall, but he was already at the edge of the couch and besides, Niall just came after him easily, smiling goofily while placing his hand on Liam's upper thigh. Oh god, no. "Niall-"

"What about… a boyfriend?" He cocked one eyebrow, leaning a little closer, in fact, Liam could now tell for sure that Niall had not been drinking something that was any less alcoholic than the things downstairs.

"No? What are you doing?" His voice was shaking, probably because Niall's hand was wandering up to his fucking crotch and he couldn't move or do anything besides leaning away when Niall's lips got too close to his ear, nearly brushing it. 

"Wanna know a secret?" There were goosebumps spreading all over Liam's bare arms when the blonde whispered into his ear, while slipping his hand underneath Liam's shirt, it was ice cold, probably from the bottle, but since Liam had kinda forgotten how to move or breathe, he had to let it happen.

"Erm… no?" He tried, hoping this would throw Niall off track, but actually, it just made him chuckle before going straight for the button of Liam's jeans, but fumbling with it since he was uncoordinated while being drunk and the small curse under his breath was all Liam needed to finally wake up from his shock. And pushing Niall straight off him to the ground with a bang that probably was his head meeting the tiles.

"OW, SHIT!" For a second or two, Liam watched Niall curling up in pain and holding his cheek, he had probably hit the same spot again as the girl before, but then there was something that sounded a lot like a strangled sob and Liam realized what he had done. Fuck.

"Niall, I'm so sorry, I… I shouldn't have pushed you. Are you okay? Are you hurt? Let me see, I'll help you up, come on." As he got down next to the boy cringing on the floor, he just acted out of instinct, as if Niall was his friend who just got hurt, placing a hand on his arm gently. "Hey, Niall, you okay?"

"No, 'm not!" Well, alright, he also didn't look like it, but he also wouldn't fully show his face and his voice sounded really tight, so if he was crying then… "Don't touch me!"

"If I remember correctly you were the one touching ME, so be happy I'm even offering my help!" Liam snapped because now that his head was clearer and he was fully aware of the situation, he hated himself for letting this happen for so long, well, so long being a few minutes, but why the HELL would Niall Horan try to do something like that to LIAM?! Like, it wasn't a secret that Niall was whoring around but … "You know what, if you wanna yell at me then just stay there on the ground, because I don't care what-"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Liam, I really am, okay? I shouldn't have, I'm sorry, don't be mad, okay? I just… I just thought that and… " And the rest of his words got lost in a hiccup that turned into a sob, making Liam sigh deeply, Niall was drunk as hell, otherwise this wouldn't have happened, and he couldn't just leave him there on the ground, when he was hurt and wasted, even if he hated him.

"It's fine, come on up." This time Niall obeyed, letting Liam help him to fully sit up, surprised by how light he actually was and by how soft his voice had gotten, as if Niall was five and not an eighteen year old who had just been trying to shove his hand down his pants. "Let me see your cheek."

"It hurts." Niall whined, his eyes were a bit clouded from the alcohol and his cheekbone was really red, maybe a bit swollen, plus he didn't look very healthy in general, and the fact that he was half crying gave Liam hope that he wouldn't remember this anymore tomorrow.

"Yeah, it looks like it does, umm… alright, where's your room, Niall?" Where else should he have taken him? It just seemed to be the most responsible thing to do and if there was anyone responsible in this house, it would be Liam, he wouldn't leave anyone lying on the ground when they were drunk and half crying.

"Upstairs…" His voice was very hard to understand but it still got Liam surprised, he hadn't noticed anymore stairs, hopefully Niall was still aware of what his house looked like or this was getting more complicated than it had to be. 

"Okay, can you stand up…?" Liam's worries turned out to be right, in the end he had to grab Niall underneath his arms to steady him and get him to his feet, immediately having the boy lean half his weight against Liam, who silently thanked Zayn and Harry for giving him so much experience dealing with drunk people. "Don't pass out, yeah? You gotta tell me which way, your house is bloody big and confusing as hell."

Niall snorted at this, mumbling something that involved a lot curse words but Liam tried not to listen, focusing on keeping him from falling instead while guiding them towards the door, praying that no one was in the hallways. So much for not wanting to be touched a lot, Niall was fucking clinging to his shirt and arm now, sometimes stumbling and gripping Liam even tighter, if there would've at least been one good reason to do this, but there wasn't even just one yet Liam was still saying all those calming words while trying to be gentle at the same time. If he hadn't been here tonight, would've Niall gotten drunk downstairs and thrown himself at somebody else until it would've worked? Probably.

A few people saw them, but they were about as shitfaced as Niall so no one said anything, or even acknowledged them, besides, all Liam really cared about was whether Niall was walking them into the right direction, he contemplated going back to the other room and lying Niall down on the couch when they got to another door that looked just like all the others had. "Liam…"

"Uh, yeah?" He was surprised by hearing his name, relieved when Niall didn't actually fall down like he had thought but leaned against the doorframe instead, eyes half closed.

"The key…" Was all he got as an answer, not catching on at first, but then he realized Niall wanted him to take the keys from his pants, and even though that seemed quite inappropriate considering what had happened before, Niall seemed in no state to try anything again, so Liam pushed his hand into his pockets quickly. 

Things made a bit more sense when he locked up, there really were some more stairs, probably leading to Niall's room, a place he didn't want anyone to see or hang out in, which also meant that Niall wasn't all that dumb after all, he still wanted his own private space, he wasn't letting everyone carelessly drink and fuck around in his house. The thing was, it made Liam even more uncomfortable, to be in a place that not everyone was allowed to see, and the reason why got his hands sweaty.

Niall actually made him lock up behind them again, which kinda made sense and besides, Liam knew where the key was, he was just a bit worried because the door would be unlocked once he left but whatever. That wasn't his problem, right, why would he care anyway, he wasn't even caring right now, he was just doing what was right.

Going upstairs was a bit of a challenge, in the end, Liam was half carrying Niall, relieved when there was only one more door, an unlocked one that clearly led to Niall's room. It changed his view on the rich, cocky boy a little bit, sure, this room was huge, like you could even go outside onto the roof of the house, but other than that, there were posters on the walls, some clothes and school stuff lying around. Much better than the rest of the house, despite the flat screen and the double sized bed, it made Liam feel more comfortable to be in here. Plus, not one sound came from downstairs. 

"Alright, you should probably go to sleep, you look pretty worn out. And like you'll pass out, come on." Niall didn't even say anything anymore, he just let Liam take him to his bed, falling inside as soon as he had reached it, not even trying to get the blanket. "Do you… are you cold?"

"Yeah…" So Liam waited for a second, but when Niall didn't move the slightest bit he just got the blanket himself to cover the boy with it, after he had done all this, he could as well tug him in now.

"Okay, I'm gonna go, sleep well and… do you have a spare key so I can lock the door downstairs again?" Somehow it worried him, only for safety reasons of course, who knows what they would to to Niall when he was asleep, like, he for sure as hell would deserve it for being such an idiot, but still.

Finally Niall turned onto his back, rubbing at his eye sleepily, his hair was all messed up too and it nearly had Liam's mouth dropping open at how much cuter this made him look. "Can you stay here? I don't wanna be alone."

This night couldn't get any worse, this nagging feeling inside of Liam would kill him if he left now after Niall saying this, he just sounded really tired and small and weak, everything that Niall Horan definitely shouldn't be yet he was staring up at Liam pleadingly, having him bite his lip in frustration. "Look… I don't think I should, I… I can wait until you sleep in."

"Can you lie next to me then?" No, no, no, this was not good, why was Liam even considering it? He couldn't just go lie in bed with random boys he had known for two hours, hell, he even felt slightly uncomfortable whenever Zayn or Harry got in cuddly moods whenever they were drunk, but Niall pushing his bottom lip back and… "Please?"

"Yeah, okay." Just until he was asleep, so he would stop whining about it, there was no way Niall would remember this tomorrow and then Liam would at least not feel guilty for the rest of the school year whenever he looked at him.

So he walked around the bed, feeling slightly uneasy while getting inside and trying not to be too tense as he half lied down with a lot of distance between himself and Niall, he was drunk, this was alright. 

"Sleep, okay?" And please quickly, he added in his head, not looking beside him but rather observing the room a little bit, well, as far as the poor lightning allowed, he still got a bit jealous at seeing everything Niall had, a computer and a laptop, a xbox and a PS3 and a fucking hi-fi system almost as huge as his TV, which meant something.

As weird as the last hours or so had been, nothing could've prepared Liam for what happened next, since he hadn't really been paying attention at all, he was more than shocked to feel an unfamiliar weight on his chest, and a warm body slightly curling into his side, letting out a content sigh. Now THIS was crossing lines.

"Niall, I… I don't think you should umm… I mean…" What could Liam have said? Most of all, how should he have put it, he didn't like to be mean to people, and yeah, he had been mean to Niall before but now he was drunk and he had just been whining about not wanting to alone.

"'m not doin' anythin'… Just cuddles, 'kay?" His voice was already thick with sleep, he didn't even think of getting off of Liam, if anything, he nuzzled his face deeper into the other's shirt. "Don't leave…"

Well, Liam would definitely leave at some point but for now he let it be, not touching the drunk boy back though, he just let him snuggle close, feeling the need to say something, something that wasn't TOO mean but also would show Niall that he was not doing this out of sympathy, but because he was a good person that still hated Niall Horan with every fibre of his body. "I'm still not your friend."

All he got as an answer was a light snore.


	2. Chapter 2

"That's an interesting development of the night, I'd say." When Liam opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was that one, he would never go to sleep in jeans again and two, Niall Horan was next to him in bed, grinning so widely, it was almost scary to see how white his teeth really were. Wait, that meant… fuck.

"Oh my god, I… I slept in and… shit…" Liam was up on his feet in less than a second, hastily checking his clothes and his pockets, just making sure everything was there.

"We didn't have sex, did we? I mean, I'm just asking because we're both fully dressed and there's no condom lying around and I don't really do sex without-"

"What the hell is wrong with you?! Can you be serious for just one single second, we didn't have fucking sex, alright, you got pissed drunk and tried to get into my pants and then you whined about how I need to stay with you and I slept in, that's what happened, nothing else! I can't believe this…" When the hell had he fallen asleep, he had just waited a but until he had been sure Niall wouldn't wake up again and then he had thought about how he should get out from under him and… he had simply never done it. Wow, he needed to call Harry and Zayn, he needed to get home and sort his head out, this couldn't have happened, no way.

"If we didn't fuck then why are you stressing out? I can't say that I mind waking up to some pretty boy in my bed." Niall's calm voice made Liam want to make a sarcastic comment something like, knowing Niall, he was probably talking about his reflection in the mirror, instead he pressed his eyes closed, massaging his temples and trying to calm down without yelling. The other boy was not exactly helping with that. "Not that that hasn't happened before, it's just usually girls and usually we're all wearing a little bit less."

"Oh, good for you. And don't call me pretty, alright?" For just a second, Liam wondered if Niall really meant it, then he decided that he didn't care and that he was being mocked, plus now he felt disgusted with himself, he may have not had sex with Niall but thinking about often Niall and half of their school had been naked in the bed he had spent an entire night in was probably even worse.

"You kind of are though. And you made a good pillow before you started yelling at me." Now Liam opened his eyes, to simply reassure himself that Niall had still managed to stay calm, because he couldn't believe it until he saw it for himself. Also, Niall was taking his pants off and…

"What the hell, dude?! Put your clothes back on, I didn't wanna know your _secrets_ last night, I don't wanna know them now!" Maybe this was a bit overreacted, Niall was still wearing boxer shorts and a shirt after all, and he was laughing at Liam now, not at all embarrassed about anything at all.

"I'm sorry that I scared you so much yesterday that you can't forget about it, I've got better lines than this one. Throw me my sweatpants over? They're behind you on the chair." Was he immune to feeling anything besides happy? Seriously though, or was he just dumb and oblivious to everything, probably all of it, Liam decided before grabbing the damn sweatpants, trying to throw them into Niall's face, but _of course_ the boy caught them easily. "Thanks. You wanna stay for breakfast, I'm kinda hungry." 

"I…" There was nothing left to say, Liam got it now, he wouldn't be able to say anything that made Niall mad or worried or killed his mood in any way, besides, he had just checked his phone and it was out of battery. Also, he had no goddamn idea how exactly he'd find back home from here, he was dependent on Niall helping him. Great, wasn't this everyone's dream? Yet it somehow felt a lot like a nightmare to Liam. 

"I take silence as a yes, come on." And without waiting for an answer, Niall had snatched the key from his bedside table, gesturing Liam to follow him out of the room and _whistling_ while walking down the stairs. Actually, he wasn't even just simply walking, he somehow had a slight jumping movement with every step, as if he was just really happy do get downstairs now and see the mess from the party and as if he just really enjoyed being alive every second of every single day. Maybe he was, maybe Liam would be too if he lived a life like Niall, with no worries or the slightest care in the world, and money to throw out of the window. He didn't want to, but somehow, he envied Niall.

"There's someone in your house." It was true, there were people talking very obviously, even before Niall had locked up the door, yet he didn't seem bothered by the fact that his guests still hadn't left in the morning. Hell, what would they think about Liam and Niall coming out of there, _together_?!

"Yeah, it's the cleaning ladies and the house keeper." Of course, why hadn't Liam thought about that, he was so dumb.

"Right. So where's your cook?" He asked, completely sarcastic, almost feeling bad about it a second later, he shouldn't be making fun of Niall for having money, he also hadn't said anything about him living where he lived.

His worries turned out to be unnecessary. "He's probably walking the dog, but I can make breakfast, if you're worried about that."

"What dog?" Fuck this breakfast, Liam felt as if he had just woken up in some kinda dream, was this real, did some people really have cooks and maids and whatnot? Did Niall have an imaginary pet?

"My mom's, you know, she couldn't take him on holiday so one of the cleaning ladies took him for the night so he wouldn't get scared or hurt with so many people here but she brought him back this morning." Then he just shrugged, waving at some woman who was busy collecting empty cups and plates, to Liam's surprise, she seemed delighted by Niall's presence. Like every person in the whole world.

"Your parents are gonna be back tonight, Niall, they called before and asked you to be ready at seven thirty." And when she said that, it was the first time that Liam noticed a crack in Niall's happy face, for only half a second, the smile got shaky, something he only noticed because he had been mindlessly staring at Niall, but it had definitely happened. Right before everything went back to normal.

"Right, thanks. Sorry about the mess, it turned out to be a bit bigger than I had thought." His voice was like honey now, it would've been impossible to imagine that someone would get mad at him for throwing a party with the whole school invited, and Liam was right, the woman just smiled at him, waving him off.

"Your parents don't mind your parties?" Liam found himself blurting out as they walked down the stairs, he couldn't believe any of this, but then again, why would Niall's parents care, none of them had to clean up afterwards, neither did Niall. Hell, the cleaning lady hadn't even been surprised to see Liam walking out into the hall with Niall, how often did this happen?

"Not really. I mean, once they get back the house will look like before anyway." At least something that sounded reasonable, because nothing else that left Niall's mouth did to be honest, at least not to Liam.

"Right, um… can I borrow your phone later? Mine's kinda out of battery and I somehow gotta get home and-"

"Yeah, I'll call you a taxi after breakfast, okay?" Why was he so keen on having breakfast with Liam, this wasn't normal, was this how he treated all of his one night stands? Well, Liam wasn't Niall's one night stand but the situation this morning had kinda been the same, maybe Niall had experienced all of this far too often as to get freaked out, why else would he act so calm and natural?

Somehow it was the weirdest thing that had happened yet, Niall told Liam to sit down in the, now clean, kitchen, before just putting everything on the table that looked like it could taste good for breakfast. Hell, he even made coffee, without a hint of being a whiny, rich boy that couldn't lift his little finger by himself, far off actually.

And then to top it all off, he sat across from Liam, pouring way too many cereals into his bowl before starting a conversation on their english essay that was due monday, not bothering to swallow while explaining how exactly he had gotten to the conclusion that he should rewrite it because he didn't know whether five pages would be appropriate or if he should rather write a little less since no one else ever had more than two pages and he didn't wanna seem like a show off. Walking through the hallways with a _golden_ iPhone had kinda already shot that horse in the face, but Liam didn't say anything, like most of the time during their breakfast.

"You got any money with you?" Right about that, his wallet was at home and somehow Niall could sense it because he didn't wait for an answer before opening up a drawer by the door, pulling fifty bucks out and handing them to Liam. "There you go, it's okay, you don't have to pay me back."

"Did you just give me fifty bucks?" God, he wanted to be mad at this boy for throwing money around like that, but he just couldn't, this had been a friendly gesture, not meant to make Liam feel poor, even though it did.

"Um, yeah? Why? Is that not enough, you can-"

"It is, I just… thanks. I should go now." Niall's smile was back big time as Liam shook his head slowly while stuffing the money into his pockets, waiting for Niall to lock up the front door because of course it wasn't a normal door but one with a password and whatever, it didn't even surprise Liam anymore, nothing did.

"Okay, see you at school. Thanks for last night." And the sad thing was, Liam didn't know wether Niall meant him taking care of him or if that was just his standard sentence for whenever he said goodbye to one of his one night stands. He just waved over his shoulder, trying to keep himself together as he got into the waiting taxi.

 

———

 

The drive to Zayn's house added up to 5 pounds, Liam could've taken a trip through the whole city with 50 bucks and still being able to go and buy lunch for himself with it, not that he planned on doing that, he'd give the money back to Niall of course, right on monday, he didn't need to owe the boy anything at all.

Since it was eleven in the morning, he had no shame ringing the doorbell a few times until Zayn's mum finally opened, looking a bit confused at seeing Liam in front of the house rather than in Zayn's room, where he had been supposed to actually spend the night. "Well, I'm not gonna ask any questions now, just go upstairs, Harry and Zayn are still asleep though."

"Okay, thank you, Mrs. Malik." At least they had gotten home safely, or maybe that wasn't a good thing, they had probably been trying to spend the night at either Louis' house in Harry's case, or at that one girl's house in Zayn's case. And look who had been the only one sleeping in a strangers bed.

Not even bothering to be quiet, Liam just opened up the door and closed it behind him before crossing the room to pull the curtains back abruptly, his friends could sleep later, this was an emergency. "Mum… let us sleep, please…"

"It's me Z, get up, we gotta talk." No idea about what, Liam just dropped himself at the edge of Zayn's bed, nearly sitting on his legs on accident, but he was too worked up as to care, he needed to tell someone. At least Zayn shot up at this, still with half closed eyes, but he did sound very wake awake actually.

"Liam?! Where the hell have you been, we've been waiting for you, hell, we've been looking everywhere and-"

"I'm here to explain it. Haz, wake up." Liam could really not be bothered to say everything twice, so he took a spare pillow from Zayn's bed to throw it at a grumbling Harry who didn't seem as excited to see him as their friend, but at least he attempted to sit up now as well.

"You better have a good fucking explanation, Liam, I really was not in the mood to go looking for you, you know, and we waited and even Louis helped to search for you, but you were like, gone. And then Louis tried to find Niall but he was gone too and-"

"Alright, alright, just listen." Maybe it was rude to interrupt like that, Liam did feel a little bit bad about it however he knew that after he had told them, no one would be mad at anyone anymore. "So I was upstairs because both you guys were busy and I was in the bathroom and I locked up because I was done and then realized I had forgotten my phone and suddenly Niall Horan came in and then he said he can't go out anymore because of a girl and then he called me his friend and I tried to fight with him but he just took me to have a drink in his dad's office or whatever and he got all drunk and then tried to shove his hand down my pants and-"

"Are you making this up?" Well, maybe he was bad at telling stuff because he literally talked without any punctuation, but why would Liam make this up?!

"I'm not, Zayn, it happened, alright? So he was being all flirty and I pushed him off but then he started like crying because he was really drunk. I took him to his room and then he didn't want me to leave so I fell asleep in his bed. And this morning he had cleaning ladies over and he insisted on making me breakfast and then he gave me 50 bucks for a taxi. Oh, and did I mention that I was yelling at him the whole time but he never even did as much as flinch? Hell, he was all calm the whole time, like he just asked me out of nowhere whether we had sex or not, this guy is not normal, I've been telling you from the beginning, he-"

"Liam, what the hell did you take last night?" Obviously, Harry had lost track somewhere in the beginning, he was just shaking his head and rubbing his temples, as if he was in pain, well, he probably was. 

"Nothing, why don't you guys believe me?! Where else would I have been and why else would I suddenly have 45 pounds in my fucking pocket?" Liam threw the money on Zayn's bed, not really impressing anyone with it, they just shared looks before Harry half lied down again and Zayn sighed. Why weren't they freaking the fuck out?

"We do believe you, Li, it's just… well, it's not exactly a secret that Niall is actually not so bad and that he gets flirty with everyone. If you would have shagged him, then that would have been something different, but-"

"Wait, you're telling me my story is not interesting because I didn't shag Niall?" Wow, and those were Liam's best friends?

"No, that's not what I said. I'm glad you didn't shag Niall, because apparently he does it with everyone and you shouldn't give yourself up for something like this, I was just saying, I'm not as surprised by this as you seem to be. And also, why didn't you text us or anything?" They just stared at each other for a bit, Liam trying not to get up and storm outside, Zayn staying calm, simply waiting for an answer. 

"I didn't plan on staying the night, but he fell asleep on top of me and while I was trying to figure out how to get up without waking him, I fell asleep too. You know how tired I always am." Which was true, another reason as to why Liam never went out, he was rather at home and in his bed at a friday night. Being lame, like his friends said, maybe they were right, he didn't really care though.

"Okay. So why did you help him? I mean, if he's been trying to shove his hand in your pants and all that, and anyway, aren't you always going on about how much you hate him?" Like, it was even't meant to get Liam worked up but it still did. Mostly because that's the question he had been asking himself both last night and this morning, why had he even done that? Niall would have deserved being left on the ground, he was a horrible person, wasn't he? Maybe not this morning, but…

"I'm just a nice person, okay? I couldn't just let him lie on the ground after he got hurt because I pushed him off." That just wouldn't be Liam, but apparently, neither Zayn nor Harry bought that, and maybe Liam didn't even buy that excuse himself.

"Li, you can just admit that you were wrong about Niall. I mean, we don't even know anything about him, you've never talked to him before last night, have you? What has he done that makes you hate him so much?" Yeah, what was it exactly? He didn't wanna talk about it anymore if he was being honest, but he couldn't just avoid Zayn's question. How come that he had been hating Niall for so many years just so now he didn't have an answer after someone had finally demanded a reason.

"Well, he's… he's always showing off all the stuff he's got, like his stupid designer clothes and his iPhone. And he's slept with half the school, like, all this girls are heart broken because of him and he doesn't even care! And everyone is kissing his feet like he's some kinda god and he enjoys it, he wants this, he wants everyone to like, roll out the red carpet whenever he enters a room. It's so bloody annoying, why can't you see that?!" Right, now that had sounded stupid, even to Liam, he couldn't even get really mad and into it, which was a first. God, he hated this.

"He can't help it that he's got money, and I've never seen him rubbing it into anyone's face or making fun of anyone for not being as wealthy. And also, the people he slept with know that he doesn't make any commitment, like, they know he doesn't _do_ relationships. For the last point, well… why wouldn't he enjoy everyone liking him?" True, god, Zayn was fucking right about everything, it had Liam jumping up to walk up and down in frustration, he didn't have much space in here, but it would do. Why couldn't he think of one single bad thing that Niall Horan had done?!

"Still, he's an ass, alright? I asked him why I would want to keep him company and he said 'cause we're friends and I was like, well tell me my name then, and he started shamelessly GUESSING names, okay? He thinks he can get everything he wants just because-"

"Well, you did keep him company in the end, for the whole night even, so…" Zayn just shrugged under Liam's glare, leaning back into his pillows much like Harry who had nearly fallen asleep again. 

"So that's that, yeah? Suddenly you both like Niall? Suddenly he's your best friend and you need to defend him?" Usually they never really fought, mostly because Liam was really sensitive, plus he could never be mad at any of the boys, but right now he was just angry, and the fact that the others didn't yell back at him made everything even worse. First they dragged him to this stupid party and he came along just so he could spend time with them and now they were picking his worst enemy over him.

"Li, he's not our best friend, he's not our friend at all actually. It's just, none of us has ever disliked Niall, it's always only been you, Harry and me don't care about him. We just wanted to go to one of his parties and you have to admit, it is kinda nice of him to let everyone in." Perfect, yeah, Liam could write them a book about HOW nice Niall was, maybe he'd find the girl from last night who had slapped Niall, maybe she at least agreed with him.

"And he's kinda hot too." Harry's comment was a bit uncalled for, he just shrugged when two pairs of eyes landed on him, yawning slightly. "It's true, don't look at me like that. I would never start anything with him, I'm just saying, he doesn't look bad, even Liam can't deny that." 

"Well, his looks are not part of his personality, so-"

"So YOU can't use his clothes and all his stuff as an argument for disliking him either. Which leaves you with no arguments at all actually, well, you had none to begin with anyway." And then the tension just broke because Harry threw the pillow from before at Liam's head, laughing loudly at the face he pulled afterwards until the others joined, only for the sake of how Harry sounded while laughing though.

Sure, Liam was still mad somehow, but he couldn't exactly fight with his two best friends if they weren't fighting with him and deep down, he knew that they were right, he just would never admit it to himself or to them. "How'd it go with Louis by the way?"

"Yeah, how'd it go?" Zayn mocked, probably knowing more than Liam already, but Harry just blushed a tiny bit before shrugging, not even hesitating to tell them.

"He showed me the house and we talked for actually most of the night, he's really cool, you guys would like him too. I told him he has to come sit with us at lunch sometimes, that's fine, right?" His eyes were sparkling, like they always did when the word Louis was being mentioned, Liam found himself nodding before Harry had even finished his sentence.

"Sure. You were so lucky you had me at that party." Yeah… maybe he just wanted a tiny thank you.

"But I was the one who spilled my drink on him and then you took all his attention by saying it was you." Which actually was a ridiculous thing to say, Liam rolled his eyes at Harry, trying not to say something that he might regret, he knew that Harry was thankful, he was even smirking a bit. "Just kidding, thanks, Li. So now, we still don't know what you've been doing the whole night, Zayn."

Well, Liam had an idea about that, even though he still wasn't sure whether he had really seen Zayn with a girl, but he assumed that he had and it would only make sense actually, even though Zayn just shrugged, not blushing the tiniest bit or showing any kind of emotion other than tiredness. "I talked to this girl for quite some time, not that interesting. She's from my arts class and her name's Perrie, happy now?"

"Wow, that's one way to kill an exciting story. How come you never tell us when you have a crush on somebody, if you ever get married, are we gonna hear about it on the day of the wedding? I mean, it's pretty clear that I would be your best man, maybe you should tell me stuff like this a little bit earlier so I can prepare." Harry joked, only getting Zayn to sigh and ignore him while taking his phone and Liam deciding that there was no way Harry would be the best man, after all, Liam and Zayn had been friends first.

They discussed this, for like thirty minutes, until Harry suggested that he could be Liam's best man instead, at his wedding with _Niall_ , which nearly had Liam lose his temper but he got himself together last minute. If he got mad about it, they would only tease him even worse, and he really couldn't need that, he hated Niall, and that was final.

 

When Liam came home that night, first thing he did was stuffing the wrinkly 45 pounds into an envelope, along with five of his own pounds, that he could have needed because he was saving up, but he still sealed it before grabbing a pen, messily scribbling something like 'Niall - thanks for lending me the money' on the front, making sure it didn't look like he had tried because he hadn't. This would have to do, he'd just slip it into the blonde's bag or something, or put it to his locker, just some way that didn't involve face to face conversations.

Liam was alone that night, and half the sunday too, but he was used to it. He only lived with his mum since his parents were divorced, which was also the reason why they had so little money, plus both his sisters went to college, so their mum had two jobs, not allowing Liam to get one too because she wanted him to focus on school instead and get an internship. Funny how one of the only seniors that had enough money to go to whatever university he felt like, also was the only one to get an internship.

Fine, maybe that bothered Liam a little bit too, Niall couldn't be pretty and smart _and_ nice, it wouldn't be fair in the slightest way.

 

———

 

On monday morning, the first thing Liam wanted to do was get rid of that stupid envelope, because of seeing it lying around on his bedside table the whole sunday, he had automatically been thinking about Niall as well and he absolutely hated it. Why would this stupid boy take up any space in his head, he had never cared about him, he wouldn't start now, only a few more months left, then he'd never have to see Horan ever again.

Actually, it was quite funny how the first girl Liam asked for Niall's locker answered without hesitating, it helped fueling his hate when he reached said locker just to find out that he was not the only one sending Niall Horan letters. What the hell? There were like three sticking out already, Niall would probably set them in flames once he got home. Or he'd just throw them away right away in school, he didn't come off as a person who bothered reading love letters and it's not like he really needed those fifty bucks so Liam made sure no one saw him as he squeezed his envelope in there as well. Making sure to crinkle it up extra hard, so really no one would be able to mistake it as a nice gesture, it wasn't one after all.

Lunch was the same as always, they were sitting outside, just the three of them, but other than all the days before, Harry waved across the whole school ground instead of just staring and Louis smiled and actually waved back. That was a first. "He waved back, have you seen that? Maybe he'll come over and sit with us, what do you guys think?"

"Hm." Was all Zayn made, he was texting someone, maybe that girl from the party, so Harry's eyes went over to Liam, excitedly waiting for an answer.

"Yeah, maybe. You could always just ask him, you know, that would probably be easier than waiting for him to-"

"Hey, Liam? Can I talk to you?" NO!

All the three of them looked up at this voice, but Liam was the only one who actually shot up in his seat, nearly losing his balance as he spun around to make sure that he wasn't dreaming. But Niall was actually standing there, gorgeous as ever, smiling at the other boy as if this happened every single day. "What do you want?"

"Just talk to you quickly, but if you don't have any time, that's fine, we can-"

"No, I have time." Already knowing that Niall would not let this go, Liam tried his best to ignore how Zayn and Harry were trying not to burst out into laughter, or how some people around them were shamelessly staring. Niall Horan talking to Liam Payne, what had gotten into the perfect little boy talking to the freak?

"Cool." Then he made that gesture with his hand again that got Liam embarrassed because he already knew it, but he still followed Niall anyway, not wanting to walk next to him at first but Niall actually _slowed down_ to force it to happen before just stopping and turning to face Liam once they were a little bit out of sight. "Alright, I just wanted to ask you if you put this into my locker?"

Good, the envelope had even gotten more crinkles than Liam had hoped, he allowed himself to smile slightly, regretting it when Niall returned it immediately. "Well, how many people send you fifty bucks in envelopes?"

"I just wanted to make sure it was you. Look, I told you, you don't have to pay me back." Was he trying to play good fairy or something? Maybe he knew that Liam had no money and was trying to make fun of him, he needed to remember this for an argument with Harry and Zayn later. 

"Yeah, I heard you, but I wanted to pay it back. I'm surprised you even found it between all your letters." As much as he had tried, he just couldn't hold back but throw that in, just to make sure that Niall knew how ridiculous he found it. Of course, it just made the other boy smile again, and then he ran his fingers through his hair, nearly catching Liam staring.

"Yeah, well, I do read the letters, you know, I even keep them in my room, I just feel like, if I sent someone a letter like that, I'd be really sad if they threw it away." He shrugged, as if this was the most normal thing in the world. Liam had to remember making an appointment at the doctor's, there was no way in hell he had just heard that right, was Niall saying those things on purpose?

"Right. Well, now you've got your fifty bucks and your love letters and whatnot, I gotta go back to my friends. Make sure your locker doesn't explode in two weeks." Because it would be Valentine's Day then, Liam had found his comment smart and it came out as sarcastic as it should have, but Niall still didn't get upset, he just looked at Liam, his smile was gone but somehow he still seemed to be too happy.

"But Valentine's Day is different like, everyone gets letters to their lockers on that day, don't they?" He said it as if he was trying to defend himself, because he actually had taken Liam's comment serious, it was impossible to have a conversation with this boy and not get mad, _impossible_.

"Well, I don't." It had just come out like this, though it was true and made Niall rise his eyebrows, Liam bit his tongue, immediately regretting his words. Why would he say that, it just made him look really pathetic, which he was, but it was obvious enough already. "Right, I gotta go."

"What about the money, I-"

"Keep it, please." And then Liam just left him standing, feeling a little bit better because he probably was the first person to ever do that, still, the fact alone that he had been forced to talk to Niall in school bugged him a lot. Like, he always got so rude with Niall even though that's not how he usually behaved towards people, this kid was turning everything upside down.

When Liam got back to the table Zayn and Harry were sitting, they didn't start with the jokes immediately, they first of all let him sit down while throwing glances at each other and smirking and then Harry was the one who blurted out what all of them were thinking. "What the hell was that?"

"Yeah, are you best buddies now? He even remembered your name." The sad thing was, that really was rare, actually, Liam never really heard Niall addressing anyone by their name, maybe five people or so who constantly followed him around. But who knows whether they really were his friends, you could never know with this boy.

Instead of answering his friends, Liam turned around again to look at the place where he had left Niall standing, there was no one now. Searching for a bit, he realized that Niall had gone back to where he had come from, already laughing about something again, with his arm thrown over some guy's shoulder. Of course, he didn't care about someone turning their back on him mid-sentence, he didn't seem to care about anything at all. "Yeah… I put the fifty bucks he lent me into his locker and he decided to play Santa Clause and give it back to me, because obviously he's got enough money to wipe his ass with it. So I didn't take it and left, he's so annoying."

"But that was really nice of him, I mean-"

"No, it wasn't, Harry, alright? How would you feel if some rich fucker came across and gave you money because he _doesn't need it anymore_. He was just mocking me because he knows I'm fucking poor compared to him." Not only compared to Niall, but it sounded better like this. Liam finally drew his eyes away from the blonde's back, sure, he had a nice back, but most of all, he had just been trying to send him death glares. Which all went by unnoticed.

"I don't think he was mocking you. But anyway, I've been thinking that maybe we should go to his next party too, I mean… it was kinda fun." Harry shrugged and to Liam's displeasure, Zayn nodded along. What had he done to deserve this? He had known this would happen all along, now they'd start hanging out there every weekend too and in a few days, Liam would be sitting alone on this bench. Now Niall hadn't only stolen his last nerve but also his best friends. And he didn't even know about it!

"Yeah, have fun, I'd rather die than go there." Actually, Liam kinda wanted to get up dramatically and walk into class early, but he settled for just looking pissed instead, knowing that in the end, he'd be the one to apologize anyway.

"But Niall's gonna be disappointed if you don't show up." Zayn joked, as if Niall would even remember Liam for this long, he had just only known his name because it had literally been one day ago.

"Well, if he throws himself at any of you instead, don't agree to let him show you his _secrets_. And also, I've heard that slapping him across the face is an effective method to get rid of him." He was being completely serious actually, but Zayn and Harry still bursted out into laughter anyway, causing Liam to roll his eyes, he was pretty sure that they weren't amused by what he had said, rather by the fact that he HAD said it. "Shut up, guys, I'm serious."

"Sorry, it's just… you sound like you're obsessed with him or something." Well, if anyone was obsessed with someone, it would be the other way around, god damn it, who had demanded they have a chat in their lunch break? Right, Niall, not Liam.

 

It didn't stop, during english, Niall handed in his now three page essay as the first one, reminding the teacher that it had been due to today. But no one could complain about Niall doing something shitty like this, because it was _Niall_. So half the class got a bad mark for forgetting and Liam was pretty satisfied, maybe if Niall continued doing stuff like that, people would start disliking him and he'd stop being an arrogant ass, it would serve him right if everyone hated him.

The only problem was that Horan didn't take his usual seat in the back, no, he seriously went for the front seat and before Liam could even realize what was happening, his blood turned to ice at hearing a certain voice behind him. "Oh, hey, do any of you mind if I sit here?"

"Well, I do mind act-"

"No! No, of course not, Niall!" There was one seat free between Liam and some girl he didn't know, and of course, her jaw dropped as she hurried to interrupt Liam and get Niall to sit down. Which he did, with his usual smile, and thanking her like the smug, little shit he was. Liam was facing another problem now, he couldn't sit anywhere else besides Niall's empty seat in the back, but who'd wanna sit next to Horan's worshippers? Maybe it was still better to sit next to the devil himself.

Or maybe not. "Hey, Liam."

"Hi…" Liam muttered, not even bothering to lift his eyes from the book in front of him, what was he playing at? 

"So, you know, I kinda felt like I upset you before and I wanted to say I'm sorry if I did anything that made you mad." His pure presence made Liam just more than mad, but he couldn't exactly say that, could he? Why the hell did the teacher take so long to tell them to shut up like she usually did?

"I'm not mad, okay? Just drop it." And fucking leave! "And stop stalking me, alright?"

"I'm not stalking you, I wanna sit in the front, because it's really hard to hear everything all the way from the back." Niall made some gestures with his hand that Liam only saw from the corners of his eyes, it was easier to be mean to Niall when you didn't see how gorgeous he was or didn't give him the chance to smile his special smile right into your face.

"You plan on continuing to sit here?!" Liam nearly choked, every single person in this school would like Niall to sit next to them and he chose the one guy that hated him, didn't he get all the hints? Was he really so stupid?!

"I think so. You don't mind, do you? I'll let you copy my notes." That was it, he was _asking_ for it.

"Oh, so YOUR notes are better than mine?! What the fuck is-" 

"Mr. Payne? This is an english lesson, not a lunch break!" Right, exactly in that moment the teacher decided to start the lesson, interrupting Liam before he could start insulting Niall for real in front of the whole class. Just like expected though, when he accidentally met those blue eyes again a second later, they were still all big and clear, plus, the corners of his mouth were twitching.

"I didn't mean it like that. But if you want to, you can still copy them." Niall's voice was quiet enough for no one to hear, so he didn't get yelled at like Liam had, hell, he didn't even seem bothered in the slightest way.

"No, thank you." He'd rather fail every class before being dependent on Niall's notes.

"Alright." Then, he shut his mouth for the next five minutes, almost making Liam think that he could breathe normally again, nearly unclenching his teeth when he heard his new seat neighbor whisper once again. "You spelled it wrong, it's written with two s's."

"You know what's also spelled with two s's?" Liam muttered under his breath, but he still crossed the word out, a little bit aggressively and nearly ripping the page which made Niall move a bit as if he had gotten uncomfortable. Well, he could be happy Liam didn't exactly explain to him which word he had been talking about. "Thanks."

"No problem." Was he seriously not hearing the sarcasm in that? Or was he just too good at pretending and getting onto Liam's nerves? Like, there was no way that Niall was really trying to be nice, he wasn't nice, he was probably just getting bored and Liam was his new victim, well, he definitely not succeed this time, Liam wasn't gonna let himself be sucked in by Niall Horan's charm. Never.

 

Unfortunately, they also had P.E. that day, which had as a good aspect that Liam was the fastest runner, which left Niall no chance to catch up even if he tried his hardest, which he probably didn't anyway, maybe Liam was imaging all of this, hopefully. 

"Okay, enough warming up, we're picking teams!" Their teacher yelled across the gym, waiting until everyone was gathering in a half circle, Niall on the other far end with some of his friends, much to Liam's relief. God, had he even thought about anything else for the past two days besides this kid? "Umm… Horan, you pick first, go on, you're captain." 

There was actually no reason for letting Niall pick a team because Niall was not got at sports at all, but Liam resisted the urge to volunteer to be captain of the second team, anything so he wouldn't draw any attention on himself. Maybe Niall hadn't seen him between all those people in P.E., maybe he had finally understood that Liam was not interested in any kind of interaction between the two of th- "Okay, Liam."

Immediately, twenty pair of eyes were on him, with Niall sticking out because he was smiling all calmly, like he usually was, even if everyone started whispering things like 'I didn't even know that Liam is in our class' and 'how does NIALL know _that_ guy?, really, it was getting rude at some point but Liam simply ignored all of this as he began walking over to Niall, leaning a little closer. 

"Are you doing this on fucking purpose?" He hissed into the blonde's ear, and wow, how did Niall manage to smell so good after running for fifteen minutes?!

"What do you mean? You're the best player." Niall just shrugged, touching Liam's arm for a second and immediately making him freeze completely, sure, they had touched when Niall had been drunk, but there was no apparent reason for his palm resting on Liam's bare skin. "Who else do you want in our team?"

 _Our_ team made Liam step away from Niall, biting hard into the inside of his cheek to not completely freak out, he didn't care about this game anymore, the chances of him and Niall ending up in one team had been 50/50, but why did it have to happen like this? "Umm… you choose."

"Okay." And Niall happily picked from the rest of the guys, some even high fiving him because literally everyone wanted to be with him for undefinable reasons, everyone but Liam and yet he was the one being stared at.

Niall constantly made sure to say something to him, even during the game, never getting an answer, which didn't get him discouraged at all. God, he really wasn't good at basketball in any way, it was driving Liam insane, not because he wanted to desperately win but because it was hard watching someone never being able to get the ball into the basket. And yet everyone still always passed the ball to Niall because they wanted him to like them, it was the most stupidest thing Liam had ever seen, he couldn't let this happen.

"Niall, wait." They would usually have a ten minutes break, so everyone was going back to the changing room, Niall about to follow when Liam's voice stopped him. He was still smiling, didn't his cheek start hurting at some point?

"What's up?" Instead of just listening, he picked the ball up again that was lying next to Liam, moving the air a little with his movement which nearly made Liam forget what he had been trying to say. Why did Niall smell so damn good?

"Umm… you… you're throwing the ball wrong." Now that sounded stupid, if he were Niall he'd probably get mad, after all, Liam wasn't a professional or anything, he couldn't exactly tell Niall what to do and what not.

"Yeah, I know, I'm not really good. Can you show me how to do it?" What?!

"Y-You… want me to help you?" Niall Horan could just simply admit that he wasn't good at something? And then ask for _help_?

"Yeah, you nearly always get the ball in, I wanted to ask you to show me, but I didn't wanna get on your nerves." His teeth were disturbingly white when he grinned, playing with the ball in his hand, his skin was really pale, which showed even more when he was wearing white tank tops like right now. And his light hair added up to that, even though his brown roots were peeking through, which really made Liam suddenly wonder what he would look like if he stopped dying his hair. Not that he had any interest in that.

"Okay, I…just watch and… do what I do, alright?" It was really hard not to brush Niall accidentally while taking the ball, but somehow Liam managed it, he also blocked out every image he had of running his fingers through that blonde hair to check if it really was as soft as it looked like. Right, just focus on getting this damn ball into the basket. "You have to step back with one foot and…"

Actually, it was almost embarrassing how relieved Liam was when he scored, it's just, how embarrassing would it have been to miss this one time while Niall was watching so closely? He didn't want to impress the boy, he just didn't want to look stupid. "Okay, my turn."

Niall actually managed to throw the ball against the wall and nearly back into his own face, he let out a short squeal, which was weird out of his mouth, Liam had never seen any other expression on him other than overly happy and slightly confused. Well, sober at least. But since he had to suppress laughter over someone being this clumsy, he decided to at least say something… not so mean. "Oh wow, that was… a good try."

"Don't lie, I'll try again." But he threw a quick smile over his shoulder before running to get the ball back, with Liam mindlessly watching him and trying to find out why he had felt the urge to smile back, he didn't even enjoy doing this, it was for the sake of their whole team.

In the end, it took five more tries for Liam to forget everything he had promised himself and just step behind Niall to forcefully bring his fingers into the right position, because how wrong could you actually hold this ball? It made his heartbeat speed up a little bit, Niall was a lot smaller and because of how he was standing now, his back was nearly pressing up against Liam's chest, as if their arms and fingers touching wasn't enough to cause Liam trouble with his breathing. Also, he had to whisper while speaking or he would've choked. "Okay, stay like this and try again…also umm…" For a second, he contemplated whether this was going too far, but Niall hadn't flinched so far and besides, the others would come back soon, so he moved his hands to Niall's hips, to make him stand right of course, not because he was enjoying touching him the slightest. It was really weird anyway, they were just two guys, Niall had asked for help, no big deal. "Okay." 

As soon as Liam stepped back again, slightly rubbing his palms on his thighs, Niall didn't hesitate to try again, and right too, for the very first time, managing to get the ball into the basket. Barely, but it still made him jump in the air over excitedly, as if this was the biggest achievement in his life. "Yeah! I did it! Did you see, Liam?"

"Um, yeah… I've seen it. Good job." His mouth turned into a smile all by itself, how could someone be this happy over something simple like this? Niall was acting like a child that needed to be told what a great job he had done, maybe it was a little bit cute to see him like that, with his pink cheeks and wow, was he actually aware of how good looking he was? 

Just because Niall apparently had so much energy now that he didn't know where to put it, he convinced Liam to play with him quickly, for as long as they were alone, it lasted only a few minutes and Liam pretended to be worse than he actually was. He didn't exactly know why he would even do that, a few hours ago he would've done anything to beat Niall at something and make him feel bad, but that urge was somehow completely gone. Maybe because Niall was giggling the whole time or because he wasn't aware of any of the rules of basketball, plus he just tackled Liam the whole time, not caring about how much touching this had as a consequence, making them both laugh. It was actually pretty ridiculous, the only reason why Liam played along was because it was still better than awkward silence between them. At least that's what he told himself later after Niall walked with him all the way to the bus station even though his car was parked somewhere completely else, babbling about how much of a good choice he had made by taking the front seat earlier in english. And just because, Liam swallowed down his 'Well, I'm still not your friend." and settled for half a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next update saturday if anyone wonders :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i changed my mind about the saturday update but i'll probably still update then :)

Niall's behavior didn't change during the next two weeks, he would always sit in the front next to Liam during english classes and pick him whenever they did something in teams during P.E., even when it was _pair_ work. But it's not like anyone would've wanted to work with Liam anyway and they were too shy to ask Niall themselves so they had no trouble with this.

Only thing that got slightly embarrassing was Zayn and Harry teasing Liam even worse, their jokes were so bad that Liam would automatically blush whenever Niall waved at him or said hi in the hallways, which automatically led to everyone thinking that Liam was crushing on him. Which he wasn't.

Yeah, Niall looked good, he sometimes managed to crack OKAY jokes and if he wasn't annoying the crap out of Liam by following him around then he was quite alright. But that was it, there was really nothing special about Niall Horan that everyone seemed to see besides Liam, he was just some normal boy. Well, with a lot of money and a tad too much confidence, but he could handle it, it was only for two classes each day and no one even knew about it because they didn't like, talk to each other during breaks or anything, Niall had also never shown up again during lunch break and Liam sure as hell wouldn't even dream about it. It's not like they were friends or as if he liked the other boy.

"Where the hell is Harry? Is he hiding now because I told him I'd go and ask Louis to sit with us myself if he doesn't do it today?" They were sitting in their usual spot, only two of them today, because as Zayn had complained for about ten minutes now, Harry had somehow gone missing, after promising he'd finally get over himself and talk to Louis. 

"Maybe they rather wanted to be by themselves." Liam just shrugged, he wasn't really keen on having both Harry and Louis here anyway, they'd just hang over one another all the time while Zayn would be texting Perrie about some date. Lately that's pretty much everything that had been going on, it kinda left not much for Liam to say in conversations because the last thing on his mind were relationships and love, but he still always had an open ear whenever one of his friends wanted to talk about those topics. Actually, it was only Harry.

"I doubt that. Harry turns red whenever Tomlinson just looks into his direction, you really think he'd be brave enough to spend an hour with him, all alone?" Shaking his head, Zayn gave up on scanning the students around them and going back to eating his lunch, occasionally smiling pretty stupidly at the screen of his phone. 

Today was Valentine's Day and if Liam would have to listen to anybody else confessing their love to somebody, he would throw up on himself. What was with everybody in this school lately? Maybe it was because Horan had gone insane and now everybody decided to follow his example, like they always did. Fact was that Liam should've stayed home, so he wouldn't have had to become witness of Zayn and Perrie being all lovey-dovey in maths and of Harry getting heart eyes because Louis had seriously gotten him a card. A fucking Valentine's Day card, couldn't they just get together already, there was no way to be even more obvious.

For the next few minutes all Liam could hear was everyone else talking and chattering around them, his stomach was growling a bit because he had forgotten his lunch once again and Zayn didn't look up until their silence was being interrupted by someone loudly arriving at their table. "Guys, I'm a genius."

"What'd you do?" It got Liam kinda suspicious to see that sneaky grin on Harry's face, his eyes were glowing and his cheeks did too, plus he looked like he'd throw his arms around one of them any second and never let go again.

"Well, I bumped into Louis in the hallways when I was on my way here, and then we like, chatted for a bit and I nearly chickened out and didn't ask him so I said like 'oh, I gotta go my friends are waiting for me, too bad you can't come along', and then he basically invited himself and he'll be over in a few minutes. Isn't that great? I did it!" There wasn't much of a 'genius'-move in that story but Liam was happy nevertheless, even though he found it a bit unnecessary for Harry to constantly play with his hair now, Louis had seen him drunk.

"Well… so basically, YOU didn't do anything, if Louis hadn't asked if he could come and sit with us then-"

"Shush, Zayn, I haven't seen Perrie coming to spend the break with us either." Their daily banter, it meant time for Liam to zone out a bit, usually he settled for watching the other students without real interest, it had gotten embarrassing once when he had realized he had been mindlessly staring at Niall for ten minutes without actually seeing him. Well, Zayn and Harry had nicely pointed it out then.

"That's because I don't want to introduce her to two dorks like you guys." Zayn chuckled but Harry acted hurt anyway, maybe he was, even if that was hardly possible with Louis coming over any second.

"We're not dorks! Maybe Liam a little bit, but he's quite weird anyway." Right, no one took things like this even serious anymore, Liam just laughed over how red Harry's face had gotten while he complained a little bit as he moved to sit next to Zayn.

Which also meant that Liam was the only one who could watch the doors and the students coming in and out, right, there was this girl from english that had dropped a whole grade in two weeks ever since Niall had decided to sit between her and Liam, then there was Louis with Niall and…wait, what?! "Harry…"

"…so basically, Zayn, YOU'RE the dork." Liam had no idea what this had just been about, all he could hear was his own heartbeat as he realized that Louis had taken along _Niall_ to come and sit with them. Why would he want that?! "What, Liam?" 

"You kinda… you kinda forgot to mention that Louis would bring…a _friend_." Funny, since when were they even so tight that Louis nearly died over something Niall had said, the blonde boy looked pretty satisfied with his achievement, usual behavior. What wasn't so usual though was him approaching the table Liam was sitting on. Shit, maybe he could… excuse himself and run home and barricade the door and never come outside again?

"What do you mean?" Zayn and Harry both turned around to check and as soon as they faced Liam again, they started smirking. "Why are you so pale, Li? I thought you've finally gotten over your hate for Horan, you guys always smile at each other in the hallways. It's weird."

"Well, I… well that's completely different than him sitting with us at lunch, okay? Do you realize everyone will be staring at us?!" Which wasn't Liam's problem at all, the problem was that hell, he didn't want to deepen whatever he and Niall had, he was scared of this taking overhand, how'd he ever get rid of this boy? "Quick, act like we're talking… and stop staring, guys!" 

"You know, Liam, considering that Harry's crush is the one coming to spend time with us, you're acting a lot more freaked out than him." Liam actually didn't even hear half of the words Zayn said, he was trying to control his breathing, hoping to come up with a smart excuse soon because right now his mind was filled with things he would rather not say out loud. "It's funny." 

"What's funny?" Oh, dang it, had his voice always sounded so smooth?

"Hey, guys, is it okay if Niall sits with us too? We kinda bumped into each other and… yeah." Of course, as if Niall hadn't asked if he could come along! "Right, I'm Louis by the way, you're Zayn, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am. And sure, Niall can sit with us, there's enough space next to Liam." Because the other three had to squeeze together now, since Louis obviously couldn't sit anywhere else than next to Harry, who was beaming by the way, looking like he had found his purpose in life; staring at Louis in the most obvious way possible.

"So…" Niall chirped, his voice was so happy, it was nearly disturbing, plus he brushed Liam's arm as he plopped down next to him. "You're Zayn, right? And Harry?"

"Right. It's kinda funny, I mean… we were at your party and we're only talking to each other now." They all laughed, minus Liam, because what the hell, that wasn't even funny at all, Zayn needed to get his shit together.

"Yeah, Liam told me about you guys." Had he? "You should come to my party on friday too, it's special 'cause it's a Valentine's Day party."

Before anyone could agree Liam finally drew his eyes away from the table to look at Niall, immediately regretting it when his eyes met baby blue ones and his nose filled with the way too familiar cologne and he blurted out the dumbest thing that was on his mind. "But Valentine's Day is today and not on friday."

"God, Liam, don't be so tight up. Sure, we'll come." Harry agreed overly excited, not even getting Niall to look at him and away from Liam, he was just smiling, nodding slowly but continuing to study Liam's face. Now that was uncomfortable. "You're coming too, Louis? Won't you?" 

"Of course! You know what I wanted to ask you…" And then they started a heated discussion about their biology teacher that Liam tried to ignore, and also the way he could still feel Niall's eyes on him even as he stared at the table again. This was so ridiculous, Niall was not even sitting properly, he was straddling the bench so he could face Liam even better. Creepy…

"Will you still come? Even though Valentine's Day is today and not on friday?" No, was the first thing Liam wanted to say, because going to Niall's party had turned things around he hadn't even been aware of, but the other boy's voice had kinda sounded… pleading? Probably needed someone to watch out for him if he got shit faced again.

"I'm not sure… I mean, I don't even drink." Liam risked a look at Niall again, his heart skipping one beat when he was met by that freaking smile.

"I know, you told me. Well, and you were surprisingly sober too. But it can still be fun. Will you think about it?" And what he did then suddenly got Liam pretty sure that he was losing his mind now, too, Niall bit into his bottom lip, blinking one time and _fuck_ , if he did that everyone, it was no wonder they were all falling to their knees for him. And NOT the dirty version of this because Liam wasn't that kinda guy.

"W-Well… okay." Even though he was about 99% sure that he would stay home, seeing Niall's face light up like the sun was worth it.

Zayn kinda interrupted their little conversation by clearing his throat very obviously and cocking one eyebrow at Liam who immediately blushed, he had nearly forgotten that everyone else was here too, it just kinda happened when Niall was around, he took all the attention, and he was probably very aware of that. "So… Niall, I'm not sure if I'm right, but I think I walked past your locker today…"

That had Niall giggling, man, why was even his giggle cute? And what had Zayn done to deserve it? "I cleaned it up before."

"Yeah, he did, and I had to help because I happened to walk past." Louis threw in, obviously he and Harry had finally come to a conclusion, it probably was that they hadn't sat so close before that their thighs were pressed together. "What are you gonna do with all those letters, mate? Those girls can't seriously think that it makes sense to stuff another one in there between the other fifty."

"It's not just girls." Niall shrugged, a few days ago Liam would've found this behavior quite cocky, as if he was showing off that girls _and_ guys were sending him love letters on Valentine's Day, but it was just Niall and he really wasn't aware of how this might have sounded. "I think it's really nice actually, but I do feel kinda bad, I mean, someone might get nothing and then they walk past my locker and…"

Was this a side comment dedicated to Liam? Probably not, it was weird anyway to hear Niall sound so concerned about something like this, you would think he'd get annoyed by so much attention, instead he felt BAD, which the other guys just shrugged off. "Well, if I didn't get anything then I wouldn't really care. Li, do you feel intimidated by Niall's locker smelling like roses?"

Oh god, why'd Harry have to bring that up?! And what was he even saying, he would've fucking cried if he hadn't gotten anything from Louis! But still, Liam felt himself blushing, and trying to ignore his stomach dropping, he still tried to answer normally. "I-I… not really."

"Don't worry, man, it's only 'cause your locker number is 666, it gets people shy probably." Or probably Liam was just a loser, that seemed a lot more likely, but he forced a smile, very well aware of Niall's stare, didn't that boy have something else to look at?

"Maybe, I guess I'll survive." It wasn't exactly anything new to him, so he shrugged slightly, desperate for the topic of the conversation to change to something that wouldn't completely embarrass him in front of every single person he talked to in this school. Four people, now THAT was sad. 

"Oh, I'll share my chocolate with all of you, don't worry." That's exactly what Niall did, he went through his bag actually, pulling out stuff and putting it on the table for everyone to just take and Liam couldn't believe this. There even was a smile on Niall's face when he watched how excited the others got and when he looked at Liam again, he _winked_ at him barely noticeable. It really made Liam wonder whether this had just really happened or if he had simply gone nuts now as well.

 

After school was over, and another really weird lesson of P.E. where Niall tried to run faster so he could keep up with Liam but didn't manage it so Liam fought with himself for a few seconds before actually fucking slowing done for which he still had found no reason, Niall somehow disappeared really quickly after changing, no sight of him anywhere when Liam walked back to his locker to put some books inside before going home as well.

He nearly wondered where Niall had gone, but only because for the past few days he had always been there talking Liam's ear off, not because Liam felt bothered by it or anything, why would he? Niall could do whatever he wanted and it's not like they were friends, they just talked occasionally.

There was hardly anyone in the hallways now because they always got out late after changing, besides, Liam didn't see any reason to hurry up so he took his time, trying to keep his mind filled with things like what he would eat today. And suddenly that question consumed his mind so much that he didn't notice what was weird with his locker until he actually opened it up and something fell out. A letter.

Liam's heart was bumping really fast, like, it was a bit uncomfortable actually, he quickly made sure that no one had seen any of this or his blushed face before picking the envelope off the floor. At first, he thought someone had put it there by mistake, but then he saw his name written on the front, in a neat hand writing that seemed all too familiar. It was ripped open in record time.

 

_Liam,_

_you know, I actually thought about putting those 50 bucks in there too, but I know you wouldn't have taken them back anyway. It's just, I didn't know what to get you and some people are lactose intolerant, so I thought better not risk it._

_Anyway, happy Valentine's Day, don't think I did this out of pity because you told me you never get anything, I actually really wanted to, I swear!_

_Don't think I'm weird after this, okay? Because I really like sitting next to you in english._

_Niall_

_PS.: I didn't write this after lunch, I wrote this at home on sunday and I'm just adding this so you know, actually, I wanted to put the letter in your bag but then Harry said your locker number and yeah. there you go!_

 

Actually, there was no doubt that Niall had really written this at home, the paper had some kinda imprints on, like, it looked more expensive than normal paper, which was not what caused Liam's jaw to drop and read the letter twelve more times. 

What in god's name was this?! Sure, it was nice, it really, really was, but… but why Liam? Why'd Niall write HIM a letter? Well, he obviously did pity Liam but he had still taken the time to do this, and he had said something nice, that he liked them sitting next to each other. 

Liam was so fucked now, he knew the second that he realized that he had been smiling quietly to himself without even noticing.

 

———

 

It was really weird afterwards, as soon as Liam got home that day, he read the letter again, trying to figure out any meaning behind it. Of course there was none, Niall had probably not even been thinking about it half as much as Liam had in just the last half hour. He would've called Zayn or Harry to talk to them about it but he knew what they would say anyway so there was no need to. Besides, they also didn't know about those two classes each day where Niall turned into a talkative, hyper puppy. Puppy was a good way to describe him actually, because well, he looked cute and he was constantly up on his feet doing something and talking nonstop, plus he was running after Liam in sports like a young dog too.

The problem was just, even though Niall did all that and despite the letter, he was still the most poplar boy in school, he still hung out in the hallways surrounded by people with a smug grin on his face that clearly showed that he enjoyed all this attention. And obviously he was still having parties too, so who knew what would happen on friday anyway. Niall had probably just invited Liam to be nice, he wouldn't actually notice whether he'd come or not, he'd just find a girl and take her up to his room, like he always seemed to do. 

There was nothing special about the way Niall treated him, yeah, it did make Liam sad for a second, but then he remembered that he didn't actually care. So what? Niall wasn't as much of a brick as he had thought, but it didn't mean that he liked him or anything, or that he even wanted the letter or the way Niall behaved towards him to mean anything.

He had two best friends and it had been enough for the past few years, he didn't need anybody else, they'd all go off to different places in a few months anyway.

 

———

 

"You're not going out?" This was one of the rare occasions, Liam's mum actually being home and not having to take the nightshift, it got Liam a little bit worried, what if she had gotten fired and tried to hide it from him?

"Um, no, I don't think so. I don't… I don't really go out." He shrugged, scanning the fridge one more time even though he wasn't even hungry at all, he just didn't like the path his thoughts had taken before when he had been alone in his room.

"Right, I always forget about that, Nicola was the one who always went out on fridays, not you." It gave Liam a sting, like, sure, sometimes it could happen that you confuse your daughter with your son, it's just, his mum literally didn't know anything about him. This was the first time they actually had time to talk in a month. "So, how's school?"

"Uh, good." Liam lied, settling for a can of coke and trying hard not to blush as he thought about his D minus in biology. Not that he was too lazy to study or anything, but it was really hard to be good in every subject. 

"You know… I actually wanted to talk to you about something, sit down, yeah?" Now it was coming, Liam thought while his hands got all sweaty, she really got fired and then they'd have to move away again and he'd have to drop out of school and get a job and- "Your dad called."

Thank god. Actually, that weren't exciting news at all, Liam nearly laughed as he sat down on the table too, opposite of his mum and watching his coke instead. "What'd he want?"

"For you to spend Easter with him." Right, as if that would ever happen.

"I'm not going." He hadn't spoken to his dad in forever, probably because the reason for his parents' divorce had had a good reason that involved a lot of fighting and well… some violence that still made Liam gulp. He had never told anybody about this.

"Liam, maybe you should give it a try. You know, Ruth is gonna go home to her boyfriend's family and Nicola refuses to celebrate Easter because of whatever she has gotten into her mind this time. Well, and I'm thinking about going to see my sister." Which meant Liam couldn't come, his mum did look guilty but it was alright, plane tickets were pretty expensive for just one person. "I just don't want you to be alone here, I mean, it's a holiday after all." 

"I can ask Zayn or Harry." Of course he wouldn't, even if it were his best friends, it's not like Liam really cared that much about Easter anyway, it couldn't get any worse than Christmas a few months ago, plus he was used to spending a few days by himself, maybe it would be nice to not see anyone for a week.

"Aren't they always away on holiday during breaks?" Out of everything his mum could've remembered about his friends, it had to be _this_.

"I don't know. Don't worry about me though, I'll be fine." Well, he kinda didn't have a choice, but he still managed to smile before taking another sip of his coke and thinking about doing his homework tonight. It was friday night, but when had Liam's friday night ever been excited? Well, two weeks ago, but that was really not the direction he liked his thoughts to go now.

Yesterday Niall had asked him again whether he'd show up today and he had once again told him that he'd have to think it through. Nothing had changed after the letter thing, Liam wanted to thank Niall, but somehow he couldn't find the right words so he chickened out. It was actually Niall who brought it up then, right before english class, asking whether he had gotten Liam's locker number wrong because he was worried that someone else might have gotten the letter. And after Liam had chocked something out like 'No, I got it….thanks', Niall had grinned from one ear to the other like he always did and they never spoke about it again. Was this good or bad?

"Right, I'll go upstairs, I think. I'm quite tired." Which wasn't even a lie, his mum still looked at him rather unsure about what they had just been talking about, but she wouldn't force him to go see his dad, they both knew that, so there really was no reason at all to talk about it. It was kinda their thing. Not talking about anything at all.

"Alright. I'll probably be gone tomorrow before you wake up, okay? Don't forget about your homework." Liam just gave her a thumbs up over his shoulder while walking towards the stairs, he did feel a bit bad about leaving his mum alone in the kitchen, but as he heard her speaking on the phone before he had even reached his room, he managed to shrug it off quickly.

The size of Liam's room, or actually flat in general, was probably the biggest reason as to why they always met up at Zayn's or Harry's, he wasn't embarrassed, because he honestly didn't care that much. And after all, he did have a laptop and a phone and enough clothes and his room was small but not empty, it wasn't like that, he just tried to spend his money more wisely. 

Just to get his mind off a bit, Liam actually did start his homework, it couldn't hurt, right? He also tried not to constantly check his phone, even if he knew that the party had probably already started hours ago and he was kinda expecting drunk messages from Zayn and Harry. They always did that, one of them at least.

After a while, he decided to lie on his stomach, glad that he was only wearing sweatpants and an old shirt, that was the good aspect of not going anywhere, you could look like shit and go lie in bed whenever you wanted to.

And sleep in, because Liam did after a while, at maybe ten o clock or something, he didn't really check the time or remember resting his head on top of his maths book, all he knew was that he nearly fell out of bed when his mum yelled his name from downstairs. "Liam! There's someone at the door for you!"

First, Liam thought this was part of his dream, but when he sat up and rubbed his eyes a bit, yawning slightly, his mother yelled something again. Who the hell was at the door for him in the middle of the night? He prayed that it weren't Harry or Zayn completely shitfaced, but no, he would've heard them by now.

"Finally, there you are, that poor boy had to wait forever." Well, that was even more confusing, Liam didn't know what to say as he got downstairs, he just tried to look a bit more awake as his mum walked past and he made his way towards the door.

Oh no.

"Niall?! What are you… how did you… there's a party going on at your house!" And he was HERE? Why was he here, how had he even gotten here?! 

"Don't worry, all the important doors are locked and they'll all be gone tomorrow. And about how I got here, you told me where you live, remember? Just had to look for your last name a bit." Niall was smiling like always, his hair was made too and his clothes looked like thought had went into them, he stepped a bit closer when Liam didn't answer and stared instead. "You know, I kinda hoped you'd come but when I saw Zayn and Harry arriving without you… well, I decided I'd just drive over and see you."

"B-But… why?" Finally, Liam's mouth worked again, he still couldn't believe his eyes though, why'd Niall ditch his own party for him? And had he stayed completely sober the whole time too?

"I don't know… I'm having parties all the time, it's not that exciting anymore. Besides, I thought we could maybe hang out a bit? Can I come in?" At first, Liam's instinct was to step aside and let the boy enter, but then it hit him, this was Niall Horan, and Liam's flat was twenty times smaller than his house, he was wearing not so nice clothes and probably looked tired as hell. 

Then again, he couldn't exactly say no, could he? "Um… I-I guess…"

"Thanks. Is this okay for your mum though? It's quite late, sorry if I'm disturbing." Well, he actually really had been disturbing Liam's nap, but he'd never know because that smile and all this politeness was making Liam shake his head automatically as he let Niall get inside. Wow, the light made it clear that he really had gotten ready for this party.

"It's okay… my mum doesn't mind." And if she did then it was too late now because Liam had already closed the door, feeling slightly taken back by having Niall so close and in _his_ place, like, it couldn't really get anymore personal. "Um…we can…"

"Go to your room?" Niall almost sounded hopeful, but he made it seem as if he had just been trying to help Liam out as he didn't know what else to say, so now he could just nod, thinking that actually, he didn't really want Niall to see his room. It was so small, what would he think about it? He was used to everything being big and expensive, something that he would definitely not come across here. "Hey… are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah… why?" Maybe Liam had been a bit too tense, he tried to not think about Niall walking up the stairs behind him or about how soft his voice had suddenly gotten at that question. As if he actually cared about Liam's well being.

"Just checking, you seem a bit tired." Maybe, if Liam hadn't been too intimidated and shocked by Niall's presence in his flat, he would've rolled his eyes at him.

"Well, it's eleven pm." And he really wasn't used to staying up late, not even on weekends, it would kinda interfere with his plans to go for runs in the morning, he didn't do it every day, but quite often.

"But it's friday." Niall said, as if that was an explanation as to why he had showed up here at a time like this, but when Liam threw a look at him over his shoulder, all he could think about was that that smile would kill him one day.

"Alright, umm…" There was literally nothing to say, Liam just let Niall walk past him into his room, contemplating whether to close the door or not before just doing it, it wouldn't help him at all to feel more comfortable with it being all open.

Seeing Niall in such a familiar place felt kinda wrong, he didn't fit into the picture, somehow he made the walls look a little bit grey instead of white and the light wasn't that bright anymore, not as bright as Niall seemed to be anyway. He was too _pretty_ to be standing in a room like this yet somehow he still managed to look all happy. "I like it. It's cozy."

Yeah, cozy and fucking small, but what Liam really couldn't believe was the fact that Niall hadn't even sounded as if he had just made this up to be nice, as if he really liked it here. "Well… your room is a lot bigger."

"Yeah, it also takes a lot longer to clean it up I assume, so, there's downsides to everything… have you seriously been ditching my party to do maths homework?!" The fake shock in Niall's voice nearly made Liam laugh, he relaxed a little bit as he went over to get his school stuff off his bed and out of Niall's sight. "Seriously though, I'm hurt, Liam."

"Sorry, but if it makes you feel better, I slept in before I could really get started." Of course Niall hadn't been serious, but Liam was just making sure, trying to check the other boy's face quickly which made their eyes meet on accident. Great, now he was looking like shit AND he was blushing. "You can… sit down, if you want to."

"Thanks." There wasn't hesitation of any kind, Niall just dropped his body onto Liam's bed as if he was the one owning it, immediately making himself more comfortable, like readjusting the pillow so he could lean against it, and actually, Liam was the one who ended up sitting on the edge, trying to keep at least some distance between them. What else had he been expecting though? Niall just wasn't a shy person in any way. "Well, back to the topic, I really was sad that you didn't come. I even stayed sober so you wouldn't feel like an outcast."

"Really?" The question just slipped out, Liam was just so surprised to hear Niall's voice go all serious and even though he still had a light smile on his lips, he had sounded as if he meant it. 

"Sure. Actually… I didn't really feel like partying or drinking today, but well, everyone already knew about the party, so yeah. I had been hoping that you and me could go to my room and play video games or so." That confession suddenly hung heavily between them for a second, Liam thought he could see Niall's facial expression crumble a tiny bit, as if he had said too much and well, things kinda started to make a little bit more sense suddenly.

So, what if Niall was telling the actual truth? It would make sense as to why he was here now at least, because everyone else was drunk and he hadn't felt like it. The only question was, why exactly did he need Liam to keep him company? Just because he didn't drink? Liam was pretty sure someone else would've gladly stayed sober if that meant playing video games alone with Niall Horan. He didn't even know what to say to that and if he hadn't known better, he would've said that Niall tensed up a bit when he took his time to answer. "Well… you could've told me, it would have made me wanna come a little bit more."

"Only a little bit?" Niall sounded disappointed for a second but then he laughed shortly as Liam went to apologize immediately, which was weird, but it was something about Niall, you really didn't want him to be mad at you. "Kidding. But you know… maybe you should give me your phone number, I can text you some time and we can still play videos games on another day." 

Seriously?! He wanted Liam's number so they could _randomly_ hang out all by themselves? This had to be a joke, he'd never get a text like that of course, but still, the fact that Niall had even said that, all naturally and as if he was talking about the weather got Liam speechless once more. "S-Sure…"

"Cool." Now the smile was so blinding that Liam had to lower his eyes, watching as Niall shifted a little bit to reach his pocket and get his phone out, doing something with it before handing it to Liam. Just holding it felt like breaking something. "Type your number in, I'll text you afterwards so you'll have mine too, okay?" 

"Okay…" It didn't make any sense, if Liam hadn't been so focused on trying to keep his hand still while typing and not dropping the phone, he would've questioned the fact that Niall trusted him with his phone number. Like, not that he was about to do anything with it, but it seemed that there were people in this school who'd kill to know it. "Here."

"Thanks. I usually don't give my number to people but you won't give it to anyone, right?" Well, if Liam had planned to, seeing Niall's face after he had asked this would've quickly made him change his mind. He looked so hopeful and as if he put his whole trust in Liam.

"Um, no, of course not." Who'd even take Liam seriously, let's be honest.

After another blush worthy grin, Niall texted Liam a smiley before urging him to go save him under some 'funny' name, but since Liam really didn't know what else to write besides simply his name, Niall took his phone out of his hands, giggling a bit before giving it back. "That's better."

"Nialler? Is that… your nickname?" Liam had never heard anybody calling the blonde that name, but since he nodded over excitedly, he decided he should go with it. 

"Yeah, but only my brother calls me that usually. He's 25 already, you know, and he's studying so he's not really home a lot." The background information just bubbled out of Niall like that, he sometimes did that, telling Liam way more than necessary and even if he hadn't even asked. Not that he'd complain, it felt nice somehow, that Niall wasn't that big of a secret anymore. "You have siblings?"

"Yeah… two older sisters. They're off studying as well." Hopefully Niall wouldn't ask about his dad, it would get really uncomfortable in here if he did, but luckily, he just leaned back into the pillow again, staring at Liam as if he was really interested in every word he spoke.

"Are they coming home often?" Actually… they didn't, they probably also didn't want to because there was really nothing special to do and besides, not even the flat was a place you'd wanna stay at if you had a choice.

"Not…really." Maybe Niall could sense how Liam desperately wanted to change the topic because all he did was smile then, sitting up a little more straight so that they were closer.

"Can I ask you a question?" The way he was cocking his head slightly got Liam even more convinced that Niall was actually a puppy, plus his wide eyes kinda supported that idea as well. If only he would stop biting his lip like that all the time. 

"Um, sure." To be completely honest, Liam's heart was hammering in his chest, because what did Niall have to ask? Usually he just blurted out with everything else and didn't even take a break to breathe.

"Do you think I'm a douchebag?" His voice was all calm as he asked, not even flinching while Liam nearly fell out of bed from being so shocked about the sudden change of topic. At first, he thought that Niall was just asking this because, but then he realized that the way he used to talk about the boy must've somehow gotten to him as well, he KNEW that Liam didn't like him. Or hadn't liked him, because even if he didn't like to admit it, Liam had changed his views on Niall a little bit. Which didn't make this any easier to answer.

"I-I… n-no? W-Why are you asking?" His cheeks were burning up as he tried his best not to look at Niall's face, this was so embarrassing like, he nearly tore the blanket in two.

"Well, you know… we've never spoken for the past three years and I gotta admit I didn't know who you were before we met at my party. But I did notice that you didn't like me and I've heard it from other people too. I was just wondering if… if you still think that way because um… I'd just like to know if I have done anything that made you not like me, I guess?" Niall was scratching the back of his head as Liam dared to look up again, a little more relaxed now that he was sure Niall wasn't mad at him, he just wanted to know, nothing more.

"I just… I didn't know you and I guess I assumed some things about you that weren't true at all. Sorry if you've heard anything mean or so, I don't hate you or anything and now that we've talked and stuff… you're quite alright." Sure, there were better ways to say this, nicer words, but Niall started smiling nevertheless. It made Liam wonder why he was so keen on knowing if he had done anything wrong, had he stuck around the past few days just to make sure Liam would start liking him?

"Thank you. It's good that you think that because I like when we talk and hang out, you're different." Had that been… a compliment?

"Different than who?" Well, it wasn't that hard to guess, but Liam was confused so he decided to just ask, making Niall chuckle before looking straight at him again, with an undefinable, happy expression on his face.

"Anybody." Deep down, this made Liam think, the fact that that answer had sounded as if it was straight out of a movie and that Niall was nearly obsessed with Liam liking him, but the problem was, he was too captivated by the way his stomach felt as if it was filled with butterflies. This was so wrong yet he couldn't just turn his feelings off, could he? And damn, Niall was so cute whenever he giggled, or the way he was constantly all smily and excited, he really listened to everything Liam said and his interest seemed to be real too. How could anyone have not enjoyed this?

They stayed on Liam's bed, just talking about anything after Niall had come up with the brilliant idea of playing the question game which made Liam agree in no time. He really did want to know more about him and surprisingly, Niall was just a normal 18 year old boy, he liked playing football and apparently he had some kinda obsession with that fast food restaurant down the street, they also shared quite some liking for the same movies and when Niall suddenly suggested they should go to his house some time and test his flat screen, Liam couldn't stop the warmth from spreading in his stomach.

Sometime between one and two am, Liam decided he could get into a little more comfortable position as well, besides, Niall gladly made space for him, probably not expecting that he'd be the only one awake less than ten minutes later.

 

The second Liam woke up, he immediately noticed that something wasn't right. One, it was cold, two, there was too little space and finally the oddest thing, it smelled a lot like the cologne Niall always wore. Which was when it hit him.

Niall was sleeping soundly beside him on his back, face turned towards Liam and the blanket covering only one of his legs, plus he was still wearing jeans and what was a lot more surprising, his hair looked the exact same way it had last night, perfect, and Liam wanted to scream. How come he could look like this even when he was asleep? Maybe he looked even more gorgeous, his face was all relaxed, chest slowly rising and falling and his even breath being the only sound filling the room. It was a little bit too much.

The emotions washing over Liam while staring at the guy he had been hating for so long were quite scary. Who would've thought that this could ever happen? And why hadn't Niall left, he for sure hadn't slept in before Liam because he could faintly remember Niall talking about a guinea pig he had had as a child before passing out somewhere in between. So the only possible scenario was Niall sharing the blanket between them and just going to sleep himself. In Liam's bed.

Not stopping to think this through and trying not to disturb the sleeping boy, Liam propped himself up on one elbow, reaching over Niall carefully to get his phone. It was only eight in the morning, plus there were a few drunk messages from Harry, even though they didn't really make any sense at all so Liam didn't bother trying to understand them. All he knew was that he couldn't go back to sleep now and if he stayed here, he'd stare at Niall the whole time and get thoughts that really nobody should have, but especially not him.

So naturally, Liam fully put the blanket over Niall after getting onto his feet, praying that he wouldn't wake up as he quickly changed into other clothes and grabbed his headphones. Just because Niall was here didn't mean he couldn't follow his normal routine, did it? Well, the truth was, maybe if he had woken up alone this morning, like he should have, then he wouldn't have gone for a run, but it was pretty much the only thing to do to avoid worrying or thinking about Niall and clear his head. 

As soon as Liam was outside of his house, he regretted not at least leaving a note, his mum had gone to work too which left Niall all alone in an empty flat that he hardly knew. It's not that there was anything to hide from visitors, actually, Liam was more worried about Niall having to wake up all confused without anyone being there. But he'd survive it, Liam would just take a smaller distance today anyway.

Unsurprisingly, the only thing that had changed about the situation when Liam came back was that he was tired as hell again and sweaty all over, plus to make it even worse, Niall had woken up when he entered his room. He was half lying half sitting in bed, not even having thrown the blanket back but he still looked as if he had spent ten hours in the bathroom. The biggest and only contrast was that Niall wasn't smiling, he didn't look mad either, just sleepy, but his eyes still sparkled a bit as they landed on Liam, going up and down, as if he was checking him our or something. "Hey… you been running?"

"Yeah. Sorry that I didn't leave you a note, I didn't think you'd wake up." Now Liam felt guilty, and gross too, he hadn't exactly planned on Niall seeing him like this, dang it, he should've just gone straight to the bathroom instead of stopping in the doorframe.

"Don't worry, I only woke up fifteen minutes ago, I kinda figured where you were." Then Niall chuckled over Liam's probably confused face, sitting up before adding something. "I suppose you don't become the fastest runner because of nothing."

"Right…" Liam's damn cheeks heated up again, it hadn't even been a compliment , just observation, why did everything sound so nice and positive out of Niall's mouth. "I'll go and shower quickly, okay? You can, ummm… go downstairs and look for something to eat or… borrow some of my clothes if… if you feel uncomfortable in yours after sleeping in them."

Just offering that had felt more than stupid, Niall probably wouldn't want to wear any of Liam's clothes anyway, they'd be too big on him as well, besides, his own clothes looked a hundred times nicer. "Actually, do you mind if I wait until you're done and then shower too? I do feel kinda gross."

Of course he felt gross after sleeping in some guy's bed, but Liam found himself nodding anyway as he quickly grabbed some jeans and a shirt, trying not to meet Niall's eyes so he wouldn't see how sweaty he really was. "Sure, no problem, I'll be quick."

Liam was even quicker than he usually would've been if he tried to hurry up and as soon as he came back, Niall brought the thing about borrowing clothes up again, which was one of the reasons why Liam nearly smashed two plates later in the kitchen. Niall had come downstairs ten minutes later, carrying his clothes from last night and wearing one of _Liam's_ shirts after being naked in his shower. Just don't freak out now, everything was alright, there was no need to admire Niall's face for ten millionth time today. Considering the fact that it was only 9:30 was kinda worrying.

"Um… want some cereal?" To say that Liam wasn't exactly a blessed cook would've been an understatement, he was just glad that he had seen Niall stuffing his face with lucky charms two weeks ago or he would have panicked trying to think of what he might like for breakfast.

"Sure, thanks. And also for the shirt, I'll wash it and give it back to you tomorrow, okay?" Why wash it?

"Yeah, that's okay… doesn't have to be tomorrow…" Or ever, and Niall could just wear it every single day for no reason at all, he probably wore three sizes smaller than Liam but he still looked gorgeous in absolute everything, there was no doubt anymore. 

"Did your mum go to work?" Liam's heart nearly fucking stopped when Niall just popped up by the counter next to him, helping to put the stuff on the table as if he was here doing this all the time. Never had Liam felt as stupid for ever thinking of Niall as a lazy, spoiled brat, how the hell had he come up with that?

"Yeah, she has like, two jobs, so she's not really spending much time at home." No idea why he said that, it wasn't interesting in any way, Niall's presence just kinda made it hard to not spill all your secrets. Exactly what Liam had always been secretly laughing about, now he was falling for the boy's charm himself and all he could do was watching himself behaving like the biggest fool alive, trying to find any excuse for his behavior that didn't involve the fact that maybe he did like Niall a little bit.

The following silence nearly made Liam slap himself for boring the hell out of Niall by telling him stuff like that, but when they sat down on the table, Niall actually seemed quite excited for some reason. "So, do you have any plans for today?"

"Not really." Thinking about it, Liam hardly ever had plans at all, he could've called Zayn or Harry but they were probably hungover and grumpy. Or lying in bed with either Perrie or Louis, making a possible meet up even less likely.

It was as if Niall had been waiting for exactly that answer, he didn't even take a breath or let more than two seconds pass before bursting out the next question, mouth half full with cereal. "You wanna come to the mall with me?"

This was more than unexpected, Liam had to blink a few times before he got what Niall had said. He wanted to spend even more time with Liam, out of his free will? "What… what do you have to do at the mall?"

"Well, it's my mum's birthday tomorrow and I haven't gotten her a present yet. And also, we gotta get those books for english, don't we? Or do you already have yours?" When Liam shook his head because Niall had just reminded him of that, the other boy flashed him a quick smile before hurrying to continue, as if he was desperate to say some more things that might make Liam agree easier. He already had, in his head. "If you want to, we could go back to my house afterwards, I'll show you our home cinema in the basement and since I'll probably be starving until then we can also get some take out. And I can drive you home later, too, don't worry."

With every word, Liam's eyes had just gotten bigger while Niall seemed to get more confident, he was bursting with ideas to plan the whole day out. Even someone who hated Niall more than anything wouldn't have been able to say no to this, it wasn't even all the activities, it was just simply how damn _excited_ he was about doing all this stuff with Liam, no one had ever wanted to hang out with him so badly. And it made no sense at all, but he still felt himself returning Niall's smile while nodding. "Sure, we can do that." 

Maybe the appropriate thing to say would have been something like 'Why the hell don't you take one of your ten billion other friends', but it was too late anyway, besides, Niall was beaming already, shoving some more cereals into his mouth. "Great."

 

It wasn't like a normal trip to the mall at all.

As soon as they had gotten out of the most expensive car Liam had ever sat in, Niall turned into a excited child, Liam could swear that there hadn't been ten second without the boy telling him some random story, yet still, there wasn't one other person he'd rather be spending his time with right now. 

Just everything about this day was somehow weird, not in a way that made Liam regret it, it was just simply weird. Like, the fact alone that Niall bought his mum some necklace for nearly 500 bucks for her birthday before quickly telling Liam about how his dad had told him to do it before jumping to the next topic a second later. 

They did find books for english class, after Niall insisted on reading the back of nearly every single one, bursting out into laughter more often than not until Liam couldn't help but join, it wasn't even funny, but Niall's happiness was contagious or something.

When they got back to the house, that probably had gotten even bigger than last time, no one was there, not even a house keeper or anyone, but it was as clean as it could be. Niall straight up took Liam and the food he had bought earlier down to the basement, clearly showing that he hadn't even been joking about the home cinema, Liam couldn't believe his eyes, like, he didn't even have an own TV.

Hanging out with Niall like that for hours, watching movies and stuffing their faces was one of the little things Liam truly found himself enjoying. It was so easy to talk to Niall, they kinda had the same sense of humor and the same opinion on a lot of things their conversations led to, it was all so natural that it was almost scary.

Even at night when Niall dropped Liam off at his house, walking him to the freaking door, it only hit Liam ten minutes later alone in his bed that Niall had actually hugged him before suggesting that they should do this again soon, Liam not even spending a single thought before agreeing. 

Hell, what was the reason in denying, he'd hang out with Niall every single day if he could.


	4. Chapter 4

"You've been all smiles the whole week long, it's starting to creep me out." Zayn muttered, trying his hardest not to look up just like Liam did or they would've become witnesses of Harry and Louis going as far as you could possibly go in school without it being public sex. Apparently they had hung out all weekend at Louis' place after the party and it was friday again now, neither Liam nor Zayn had asked any details, there really was nothing more to even say after they had seen them snogging on monday. And ever since then, Louis just kinda belonged into their group as well, not that they would've been able to get rid of him.

"I'm just in a good mood." More than that actually, Liam was trying his hardest not to look around for Niall or to check his phone, _again_.

After their very eventful friday and saturday, they hadn't had any contact on sunday, which kinda made sense because Niall had to spend time with his family.

On monday though, he had suddenly given Liam a whole box of chocolates, with the excuse that 'I wanted to thank you for going to the mall with me and I never actually bought you anything for Valentine's Day', and then after they said goodbye when P.E. was over, Niall hugged Liam again, out of nowhere, and grinned like an idiot afterwards.

Which didn't come close to tuesday, Niall actually randomly showed up during lunch break, just dropping on the empty space next to Liam and ignoring everyone's stare, just saying something that made them all laugh before starting an individual conversation with Liam. The hug didn't miss that day either.

Wednesday was the first time Liam actually asked Niall to spend the break with him and the others, immediately getting a wide smile and a 'sure, I love sitting with you guys, your friends are really cool'. In the afternoon, when Liam got home, he had about three messages on his phone, all from a certain blonde boy that was whining about how his parents had dragged him somewhere and he needed someone to distract him. Liam was more than happy to oblige.

Nearly the same things happened on thursday and then this morning, friday, Niall had made up an excuse as to why he had ended up in Liam's neighborhood instead of school so he could as well drive him there. Yeah, they had actually gotten to school together, Liam could've bursted with how proud he was that Niall didn't give one single fuck about everyone seeing them getting out of his car. Well, he always yelled something at Liam through the hallways as well, so…

"Does this have anything to do with Horan? You guys are like… I don't wanna say attached by the hip because you're not, but whenever Niall sees you he starts smiling and immediately comes over. It's so weird, you'd tell me if you had something going on with him, wouldn't you?" The jokes about Liam and Niall had pretty much stopped, probably because Harry was now busy with his boyfriend and Zayn had gotten tired of it because there were so many things to comment on that he probably couldn't decide anymore.

"I've got nothing going on with him, you know me." Liam had never had anything going on with anyone, so maybe that was why Zayn let it go with one last look, focusing on their two other friends who still hadn't stopped snogging.

"Guys, can you part for like, a few minutes, we wanted to go somewhere, remember?" It came out more than sarcastic, for which Zayn had every right. Sure, Liam was happy for Harry, but their honeymoon phase had quickly gotten onto everyone's nerves. Good thing Liam had Niall to distract him and consume most of his thoughts.

"Yeah, sorry." Harry wasn't sorry at all, his lips were slightly swollen when he and Louis pulled apart, not letting go of each other though and giggling like fucking idiots. It got Liam slightly jealous if anything. "Let's go then, yeah?"

School was over already, the only reason why they were all still there was because they had had to wait for Liam getting dressed again after P.E., and saying goodbye to Niall, which no one knew about though. Somehow, and he really had no idea why, he hadn't felt like telling anyone about him and Niall texting, or about last friday and saturday or anything more than necessary. Keeping it all a secret was way more exciting, plus, Liam didn't wanna share any of this, whatever happened between him and the other boy was no one's business anyway.

About halfway across the parking lot, Louis and Harry going first, holding hands as they had done nonstop for the past few days, and Liam and Zayn talking about what movie they should watch later, Liam suddenly stopped walking, remembering something. "Shit."

"What's wrong?" The two lovebirds didn't even notice and walked on, but Zayn took a step back, watching confused while Liam went through his bag quickly, sighing, this was really prefect timing.

"I forgot something, I gotta go back and get it, I'm sorry, I'll be really quick, I promise." If it hadn't been this important, Liam wouldn't have gone back and if it was just so Zayn wouldn't groan, but he needed the book to study over the weekend, there was a test on monday, his last chance to maybe get an A there.

"Fine, give me your bag. And please don't leave me alone for too long with those two. I'm gonna try and not gag too often." Liam nearly laughed as Zayn rolled his eyes while scrunching up his face in disgust, handing his bag over before half jogging back to the school entrance.

Most students were gone by now, which was a good thing since Liam's locker was so far down the hallway that he couldn't need anyone standing in his way now. The only reason why he tried to hurry was for Zayn's sake, who probably regretted not hanging out with Perrie tonight but giving in to Harry's begging about them spending the night at his house since his parents were gone. Liam knew that this had nothing to do with Harry needing them over so badly, he was just too nervous for Louis being the only one staying at his house over night. Not that Louis would force him into anything, he didn't seem like that kinda guy, but they were probably trying to take this more slowly or something. 

When Liam had gotten his book he decided to not run outside again as if the devil was after him, instead he just tried walking a bit quicker, passing by some group of girls who may or may not have been whispering something. They probably had though, the fact that Niall Horan had driven him to school and sat with him at lunch a few times had quickly spread apparently. Which made Liam shake his head to himself, Niall wasn't a celebrity or something, some people were so weird.

The fact that his mind had wandered off to his special classmate once again kinda prevented Liam from catching on when he heard someone actually saying Niall's name out loud. Just so he could nearly stumble over his own feet when he heard it again, immediately freezing.

One classroom door was open and voices were coming out, Liam didn't know who was inside because he couldn't see from his spot, but he could damn well hear whoever was in there. And for some reason, he decided to press himself against the wall and let Zayn wait for a little bit.

"…come on, Niall, you already agreed!" Liam's breath hitched, Niall was in there?

"So what? Doesn't mean I can't change my mind, besides, that was four weeks ago and I was pretty wasted." No doubt, there was only one voice that sounded like this, only question was, what the hell was going on.

"You scared of getting expelled, huh? It's not like your dad couldn't bail you out if-"

"You don't even know my dad and he won't have to bail me out of anything, I'm not gonna do it, okay? Whoever had this idea, it's stupid and we should leave." It sounded pretty convinced, there was some mumbling afterwards, some people moving and Liam nearly left, he shouldn't be eaves dropping, but he couldn't help it.

" _Come on_ , the last time we went through with a prank was a whole year ago. Besides, we got everything here, just take a spray can and-"

"I won't spray paint anything today and neither won't any of you. You can all come to my house if we forget about this right now." Liam knew that Niall had rolled his eyes after saying this, it was scary how closely he had watched him over the past few weeks.

"Since when are you such a pussy, Niall? Ever since that loser Payne came along you're all over him, he's been talking shit about you ever since freshman year and you know it, so what do you want from him?" Shit, what the hell was this about?!

"I'm not a pussy, shut the fuck up! And leave Liam out of this, alright?" He had never heard Niall starting to yell or cuss, since when was he capable of letting his happy facade drop?

"No, seriously, I'm curious, do you really like him?" Did he? Liam's heart was bumping pretty uncomfortably now, none of them had ever actually tried to talk about what they were even doing or if they were even friends.

"It's none of your business." Niall had calmed down again, a little bit, he still didn't sound anything close to alright. It made Liam feel bad, he wished he could've gone in and helped, but of course, that would've made everything a hundred times worse.

"You know…people are kinda talking about you. Because of that whole Liam thing and all, and you acted really weird at your parties too, we didn't even see you last friday. It's really making us wonder whether a guy who treated you like shit is really more important than all of us? Than your whole reputation in school?" There was dead silence after that statement, Liam felt his stomach turn because he heard the truth in those words. Whoever had said that, they were right somehow, Liam HAD treated Niall like shit, for no reason at all, he should apologize again.

The next sound was so out of place, for a second or two, it seemed to not even come from this world. Niall was _laughing_. "Oh god. You really think I LIKE Payne? That I wanna be his friend? Have you even looked at him? I know that he's been talking shit about me, I just thought that being friendly to him and all that shit would make him pretty easy to get, y'know? I mean, he's probably a virgin and really desperate. And after a quick fuck I'll be gone and he'll be sobbing. Man, I'm just having a little fun, nothing more." 

Of course. Hadn't Liam known from the beginning? The Niall he had gotten to know over the past few weeks didn't exist, it was just an act, because he was a fucking disgusting brick and nothing more, Liam didn't need him anyway, sure, maybe he had enjoyed spending time with him a little bit. Or a lot, but it didn't fucking matter anyway, no one would actually be interested in Liam, why hadn't he seen that before?

There were no tears coming, no nothing, Liam couldn't even hear any sound at all, everything was just kinda blurry and unimportant. He pushed away from the wall, quickly falling back into half jogging as he went for the door again, Zayn was probably mad at him now, who knows, maybe they had left without Liam? Maybe their friendship had been an act as well, to make fun of him and leave him broken in the end. That's what he would've deserved anyway.

Surprisingly, Zayn's car was still there for Liam to slip into the passenger seat, Harry and Louis were whispering in the backseat, not saying anything or even acknowledging his arrival of course, and Zayn just glared before wordlessly starting the car. Had he really expected Liam to not fuck up though, you'd think he knew him long enough to know that he couldn't do anything right.

"So, what movie are we gonna watch?" Harry broke the silence as the first one, making Liam want to cry and blankly stare out the window. Which had nothing to do with Niall of course, he couldn't be heart broken because of what an asshole he didn't even like had said. As if he would have ever even slept with him, what kind of a sick plan had that even been? Simple answer, the one you'd expect from someone as stupid as Horan.

"Whatever you wanna watch." And right after Louis had said that, they started giggling again, causing Zayn to groan. There wasn't even any need for Liam to turn his head to know that Zayn was gripping the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

"We'll solve this democratically, and NO, Liam, we're not gonna watch Spiderman again, and also not The Dark Night, alright?" As if he had actually known that Liam had watched exactly those movies last saturday. How ironic to bring this up, no one needed a fucking home cinema, only people whose only purpose in life was bragging with how wealthy they were.

"Okay." Did his voice really sound so tight? Well, he was pretty thirsty.

"I like Spiderman though." Maybe Louis could be a good friend, hopefully at least Harry had luck with picking out the people he hung out with.

"Well, but your choice only counts as half because you've been only here for one week." Zayn had a point, and since Louis wasn't easily offended, actually impossible, he just let out a laugh without saying anything else. Liam had no idea what they were doing in the backseat, he was still just watching everything outside passing by, trying his hardest to focus on his friends' conversation instead of… anything else.

"Zayn, don't be so stupid, if Perrie was here then I wouldn't make any dumb jokes either, I know it's in your nature to be like this, but maybe you could try and keep it down tonight." Harry was nearly spitting his words out, pretending to be really mad now, what he forgot was that it wasn't that easy to get Zayn to feel serious about something stupid like this. "Maybe I wanna watch spiderman too, now it's two _and a half_ against one, what're you gonna do?"

"I don't even wanna watch Spiderman…" It just slipped out like that, Liam hadn't really intended to even speak up, but somehow, the thought of watching this movie made him wanna throw up. Maybe… maybe because Niall had made so many funny comments while they had been watching, he'd never be able to forget about them now. Right, no crying now, there was nothing to be sad about, he had gotten what he had wanted, getting rid of the Horan kid.

"Liam?! I was trying to have your back here, you're supposed to be my friend!" Obviously, the word friend seemed to have many different definitions to the people surrounding Liam.

They fought for the rest of the way, actually, Harry fought and Zayn was just driving the car, occasionally saying something while Louis tried to calm his boyfriend down and Liam… well, he tried to resist the urge and get his phone out of his pocket when he felt it vibrating.

 

Later that day, about halfway through the movie they had settled on after discussing for another few hours and Liam letting out his aggressions on that one video game Harry owned, beating Louis every single time who wanted to know some tricks to get better afterwards. The trick was to start liking some guy and waste your thoughts on him when all he had ever planned on doing was fucking you over completely, but Liam just shrugged.

Right now though, with Zayn being on his phone, Harry and Louis cuddling without actually watching the screen, Liam couldn't stop himself anymore, his hand already in his pocket before he could think this through and realize that this wouldn't help him in any way. Three messages.

 

_Nialler 4:25 pm_

_you home already ?_

_Nialler 5:40 pm_

_text me back ! you wanna come over this weekend? :)_

_Nialler 7:13 pm_

_liam? did i do anything? can i call you later?_

 

Who did he think he was?! Since when were they at CALLING each other, like? Was Niall sure he wanted to spend his precious time talking to a loser like Liam, just for a quick fuck? Now who was the desperate one here?

Tossing the phone on the couch just to have it bounce off probably hadn't been the smartest idea Liam had had, but his eyes were getting teary and luckily it was dark or otherwise Louis would've seen as he looked at Liam in confusion. "Um… Liam? Your phone kinda hit my-"

"Yeah, sorry." It hit Liam out of nowhere then, that all of his friends had someone they were busy with and he had been the only one watching this damn movie all along, why was he even here? It's not like they needed him, no one had cared before either when he hadn't even said a word for at least 45 minutes, so why was he sitting here, suffering? "I'll be right back."

Before anyone could respond, he had gathered his phone from the floor, quickly slipping out into the hallway and the few steps down to the bathroom, not even trying to hold his tears back as soon as the locked door prevented anyone from coming inside. 

Fuck, how could Niall have done that? How could he be such an amazing actor, he had written Liam a fucking Valentine's Day letter, he had bought him stupid boxes of chocolate and ditched his own party to sleep over at Liam's house! What was wrong with this kid, he did all that, for three fucking weeks, to get into someone's pants? Someone he didn't even like?!

After about ten minutes of pathetically sitting on the floor with his back leaned against the door, not even bothering to wipe his tears anymore because they wouldn't stop coming anyway, Liam started to really hate himself. It was his own fault that he had gotten into this situation, he should've known that no one in their right mind would actually bother to do any of those things Niall had done simply because they liked Liam. Of course it had been a lie.

"Hey, Li, you alright?" The knocks belonged to Harry, even if his voice was kinda muffled, but it was obvious. "You been in there for a long time."

"I-I… I'll be right out." Liam got up slowly, looking in the mirror and wanting to groan. There was no way he'd get his face to look normal again in just a few seconds, or his eyes to stop being all red, hell, he wasn't even done crying yet.

"… you're not crying are you?" How did he…? "Because that one scene was pretty sad, I agree, I nearly cried too when I saw it the first time."

Well, crying because of a movie was embarrassing, but not as embarrassing as crying over the biggest playboy their school had ever seen. Besides, Liam had been in that bathroom for way too long so he took a quick breath before locking up the door and trying to push past Harry.

"Wait, you…" A hand around his wrist stopped him and before he knew it, Harry was staring straight into his face with his eyes going wide. "Oh my god, you're actually crying! Aw, Liam, it's okay."

He wanted to just nod, force a smile and let it be, instead, they looked at each other for a bit, Harry's finger slowly slipping from Liam's skin, a questioning expression spreading in his face. That's when Liam just broke, because fuck it, how often had he let Harry cry on his shoulder? Even slept over at his house so he wouldn't have to be alone, it should be alright if Liam was the one who needed support this one time. So he made Harry stumble back by just wrapping his arms around his friend, glad that he was still shorter so he could bury his face in Harry's shoulder, trying to contain his sobs.

"Shit, Liam, what's wrong? This is not about the movie, is it? Talk to me!" The hug Liam got in return was really tight, which was good, Niall that fucking asshole had only hugged him half heartedly today after P.E.. "Liam, come on, I wanna know what's wrong, why are you crying?"

"I-It's… it's N-Niall…" Was all he brought up, which, of course, led to completely wrong conclusions.

"Do you like him, Li? I mean, like LIKE him? It's fine, you can tell me, I-"

"No!" Liam sobbed, hell, even if he did like him like that, what did it matter now?! 

"Then what is it? Did he like… did you guys have a fight or so? Please, I wanna help, but you gotta tell me what's wrong." It started to sound desperate, Harry was rubbing Liam's back now with one hand, trying to say anything that might be calming, not really succeeding though, Liam just wanted to cry, nothing more.

"Babe, what's… is Liam crying?!" Perfect timing.

"Yeah, Lou, I… I don't know what's wrong, can you get Zayn? Maybe Liam will tell him if he doesn't wanna tell me." Definitely not, hell would have to freeze over for Liam to tell any of them.

Or so he had thought.

Ten minutes later, after Liam had finally stopped clinging to Harry and reduced his tears to a minimum, he slipped down to the floor again, trying to ignore the other three guys surrounding him and touching him, sometimes throwing clueless glances at each other that he probably wasn't supposed to see. 

"Liam, tell me what Niall has done and I promise I'll break his face." Zayn was kneeling right next to Liam, with one hand on his arm, a hard expression on his face, he seemed really mad. "Come on, we're your best friends, you can tell us."

And so Liam took another deep breath before just telling them everything, and he started with the letter on Valentine's Day, not stopping to watch their eyes going wide. There were a few more tears, actually a lot, plus Liam had to take a break because he had to sob again, but when he was finished, almost quoting what Niall had said about him before word for word, Louis was the first one to jump up, nearly growling. "That fucker! I'm gonna kill him, he's always talking about how he makes sure that all his one night stands or whatever know that it's just sex and nothing more, and then he wants to do something like this to you?! And why? Because you said a few things about him, wow, big fucking deal. I'm so pissed, I could drive over right away!"

Yeah, Harry had picked the right guy. "It's okay… I probably deserved it anyway… I did say some nasty things…"

"What the hell, Li, no one would deserve something like this! And just hearing this proves that you've been right about every single thing you've ever said about Niall. He's such an asshole, I can't believe I ever found him nice. If you wanna punch him, Lou, then I'll hold him." It almost sounded as if Harry would actually ever do something like this, but he moved to sit next to Liam, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and squeezing a bit. "Don't worry, you don't need a brick like him, you got us."

"We can talk to him if you want us to. Or, you know, just one of us, whatever you want, Liam, we'd do anything to make you feel better." Zayn's smile was really sad as he reached out for Liam's arm again, not really doing anything but Liam really did appreciate everything they did, it didn't make him feel much better, but a little bit. 

Well, maybe it would've calmed everyone down a little bit if Niall hadn't had the worst timing ever, sending Liam a text message when his phone was lying on the floor in front of him with the screen up, loudly vibrating too, of course.

 

_Nialler 9:01 pm_

_r u mad at me ? :( what did i dooo?_

 

Liam had never been aware of how great is friends actually were when Harry just snatched his phone after the first look, shoving it into his pocket before slowly getting up, one arm stretched out towards Liam. "Come on, the couch is better to sit on. Plus, my mum bought ice cream yesterday, I'll get you some, yeah?"

 

———

 

The fact that Liam was staying at Harry's for the night was actually a blessing, he didn't get his phone back anymore, not that he felt a need to have it, but the chance of Niall just showing up at Liam's flat was about 99%, good thing that no one was home.

When Liam wanted to go home the next day, everyone made up excuses as to why he had to stay and in the end, he actually ended up having dinner with Zayn's family, still phone-less, but no one else could've been texting him besides Niall anyway. And Niall was about the last person he wanted to see or hear from.

So after crashing on Zayn's couch on saturday, maybe staying a bit too long on sunday too, he finally ended up in his own bed again that night. His phone turned off on his bedside table because he had let Zayn check it before and he was pretty sure he didn't need to see that Niall had called him like twelve times.

Of course he couldn't exactly hide from the boy anymore once he got to school on monday, Harry nearly forced him to walk him to his first class even though nothing happened at all.

It was after the second period, and a failed test, that Liam was trying hard to keep a straight face while making his way through the hallways to his locker, nearly having a heart attack when someone grabbed his wrist, pulling him next to a closed door. Niall, who else? 

He looked like he always did, well, clothes-wise, his face wasn't happy at all today, neither was there any sparkling in his eyes, he looked tired and kinda furious too, only letting go of Liam when he violently pulled away. Seeing Niall didn't do him any good, sure, this confrontation had been bound to happen, it'd be their last one hopefully. "What the hell is wrong?! It's very grown up to just ignore someone for a whole weekend, you know, and not lock them up when they make an effort and drive to your flat and wait for hours."

It was so ridiculous, the fact that Niall crossed his arms in front of his chest, lips pressed together, HE was mad at Liam, unbelievable. "Oh, really, was that not grown up of me? Then I'm sorry, of course it's much better to pretend to be someone's friend just because you wanna fuck them since, let me quote, 'he's probably a virgin anyway and really desperate'. The game is over, Niall, you disgust me." 

Like expected, Niall pretended to be shocked, and sad, well, actually, he did a very good job at making it seem real, but he was a very talented actor in general, letting his arms drop slowly as he tried to find the right words, the anger in his face replaced with desperation. "W-What…b-but you… and… you were…you were there?! You heard what I said?"

"Good observation, Niall, congratulations. Now since we talked this out, you can leave me the fuck alone and find yourself a new victim, I gotta go." Liam didn't even manage one single step before Niall was already clinging to his arm to keep him from leaving, why did he have to carry on? Wasn't it kinda obvious that he would NEVER get Liam to sleep with him?!

"No, you can't go, Liam, please, listen to me, okay? I didn't mean it, it's not true at all, I lied to them, Li, I swear! I really do like you, please, let me explain!" Now this got Liam stopping for a second, not because he considered actually letting Niall tell him some more lies, he was just kinda impressed by how serious Niall was. He looked close to tears now, not loosening his grip in any way, quite the opposite actually. "I felt so bad for saying it, the second it was out, it's been a straight lie, all of it, if you just give me a chance to explain it, I swear I will, just please don't go. Please."

The fact that there was a part in Liam that wanted to agree made him even angrier than he already had been. "I won't listen to anything you say, this is not a fucking game, Niall, you'll have to find someone else to believe your lies. I can't believe you seriously think I'm going to listen, what are you trying to achieve with that anyway? I told you I'm sorry about whatever I said about you in the past, good thing that I just discovered that I have been right in every single point. You _really_ are a spoiled, arrogant and ruthless asshole."

Finally, that hit Niall deeply, he let go immediately, sniffing once and rubbing his left eye with his knuckles. Was he seriously going to start crying now, what was his damn problem?! "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry, I was really trying so hard, okay? I know I messed up, I know, but you gotta believe me, please, give me another chance, I can-"

"Niall, fuck off, okay?" Both of them flinched a tiny bit and Niall spun around so fast, he nearly bumped into Liam. 

"Louis! Louis, please, if Liam told you, you gotta believe me, I didn't mean it! You know me since two years, you know I would never do something like this, please tell him!" Much to Liam's relief, Louis looked more than furious, not as if he would jump sides now and help Niall instead, the half crying boy didn't seem to impress him in the slightest way. Other than Liam, his stomach twisted uncomfortably as he saw a tear spilling over and rolling down Niall's cheek, he looked as if he seriously was in pain or something. 

"I won't tell him anything other than to stay the hell away from you, you're a psycho, I hope you're aware of that. Come on, Li." The hallway was nearly empty now because class had started like one minute ago, which probably was the only reason why Niall shamelessly started crying for real. After all he had done, it was still awful to see someone so happy and gorgeous in tears, but Louis grabbed Liam's arm, pulling him away. "Just ignore him, it's all show, if you let yourself get sucked in again then who knows what he'll do."

"I-It's not s-show! I'm s-sorry…" Niall's voice just broke, he was trying really hard to wipe his tears but giving up defeatedly, readjusting his backpack as Liam turned away to walk properly next to Louis, trying to get those images out of his head. That had been… a lot more intense than he had thought. It would've made a lot more sense for Niall to just let it drop and walk away, since he didn't even like Liam, plus his secret had been spilled, why would he make such a scene?

"You okay?" They had walked across the corner which got them out of sight, Liam could feel Louis' worried eyes on his face but didn't bother to look up. His mind was a mess right now, all of this was somehow too much and if he was being honest, he would've rather joined Niall with all the crying instead of going to class.

"Yeah, sure. Thanks, Louis, I mean… you've been friends with Niall for much longer than we have even known each other." Which maybe made this even worse, from Niall's point of view at least.

"I'm doing what's right and his behavior is disgusting, so don't worry about it, okay? I actually gotta go into the other direction, are you gonna be okay?" Probably not, but Liam managed half a smile and a nod, receiving a quick hug in return. "Okay, see you at lunch."

As soon as Louis was gone, Liam went for the first bathroom he found, locking himself in, the sickness in his stomach got unbearable the second he leaned over the toilet bowl. Liam never actually had to puke, only if it involved really bad stuff happening, and damn, this was the worst thing he could've imagined.

And still, he missed Niall so terribly that it hurt physically.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next update randomly during next week, sorry for the cliffhanger! have ya'll seen liam hugging niall in croke park last night ?!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting this today in celebration of me passing my final FINAL maths exam haha, thank you all so much for the kudos and the comments and for reading in general :) I'm gonna update again soon, I'm always so excited about you guys getting to read the next chapters.

Niall didn't show up anymore that day, no one had seen him leave either, but he didn't come to english or P.E. and the people he had hung out with before joining Liam for lunch were alone as well. Had he gone home? That would make even less sense, why would he care so much, it had all just been a joke to him, right? 

For some reason, Liam suddenly started to doubt whether Niall had told him the truth today or not, he kinda wished he would've agreed to at least listen to the explanation because damn, he sure as hell would like to hear Niall trying to talk himself out of this. On the other hand, he was fucking heart broken and sad and mad all at the same time, he wasn't even really sure of his feelings anymore actually. All he knew was that there was no way in hell he'd get this boy out of his head again. Or the boy Niall had pretended to be.

When school was over, Liam quickly tried to find an excuse for his friends as to why he had to leave so quickly, they wanted to hang out again, to distract him probably, and sure that was nice, but he had stuff to do.

Cry at an empty bus stop for twenty minutes for example, just because. Why was it so hard to decide whether he wanted to hate Niall or have the boy continuing to run after him and try and make it alright again? Probably because whenever he was convinced that he didn't like him anymore, his cute giggle after Liam had poked his side one time kept popping up in his memory again. He really wanted to hear it again, one last time at least. 

The thing was, even though it had seemed as if Niall had given up, when Liam finally got home, an hour later than he usually would, the second he started walking up to his front door from the sidewalk, he froze.

In fact, Niall hadn't gone anywhere near his own house, nope, he had left school fucking hours ago to come and sit in front of _Liam's_. Well, at least now, he wasn't crying anymore, he just looked pretty much done with everything, immediately jumping up when he saw Liam though. This was not gonna be pretty.

"Niall… leave, okay?" His anger hadn't completely gone away, but Liam just pressed his eyes close in frustration, not even feeling like yelling anymore. He had never met a person as nerve wrecking as Niall.

"No, I can't. I practiced what I would say to you and I waited for so long, your mum came home from work and left again. She told me I can wait inside but I know you wouldn't have wanted that. Can you please listen to me? I'll do anything you want afterwards, leave you alone, whatever. Please?" They were standing face to face now, with a lot more distance between them than usually and Niall clearly felt nervous, playing with his fingers as he waited for an answer, something Liam had never seen him doing before.

Considering the things Niall had said about him, it shouldn't have been a question whether or not Liam should yell at him to leave and then threaten to call the police. Instead, he took a deep breath, looking away from the blonde to fully walk up to his front door. "Fine. Say whatever you wanna say, but be quick, I don't have forever. And, you're not setting one foot into my flat again."

"Okay." Niall agreed eagerly, there were some red spots appearing in his face and down his neck, it wasn't hard to see that he really was nervous. Just why, Liam had thought he didn't care.

They sat on the step in front of the door, Liam had his backpack dropped behind him, hoping this wouldn't take too long, but it didn't look like it because as soon as Niall had sat down as well, turned towards Liam, his mouth was open again.

"Before I explain this, I gotta say something else." Liam sighed, but he nodded, gesturing for Niall to carry on, which he gladly did. "Okay, when we met at my party, I really didn't know who you were. And yes, I did take you to my dad's office for a drink because I thought you'd be a… quick number. I wasn't feeling good and I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done it and I deserved you pushing me off like that."

"Of course you did. You know, you're not exactly making yourself look any better with that story." Unbelievable, he had had this planned ever since the freaking party?

"I know, but it's the truth. But then you were so nice to me when I was wasted, and you took me to my room and even stayed for the whole night, I can't remember all of it but I know what you have done for me. No one's ever cared that much about me…" The last part came out quietly, Niall looked down, shrugging slightly and rubbing his eyes once more, he looked a lot younger now, vulnerable, as if nothing of the loud and excited boy from school was left. "I knew you didn't like me and I didn't wanna get it into my head. I even asked my friends about you and they said not to think about it because you've been saying stupid things about me since years. Well, I did think about it and I made it my mission to get you to like me just like everyone else does."

"That's why? Why you've been so clingy? So I would simply LIKE you?" Well, couldn't he have at least tried to think of a better lie, he had had hours to come up with that.

"Yes." Niall looked right at him while saying it, as if to make a point, and he did sound very convinced, it was just… Liam knew that he was a good liar, wasn't he? "But then… then I realized I like you too. I really enjoyed spending time with you, you weren't trying to desperately be my friend or anything, you were just you and it was nice because… I could just be me too."

"If you like someone you don't go off saying things like that about them though, whether it was a lie or not." He had said so much yet he hadn't explained any of it, but for some reason, Liam suddenly felt bad for the other boy. His voice was kinda tight and the way he was looking at him was just desperate, as if he really needed Liam to believe his words or he'd die.

"I know. But when my … friends confronted me like that, telling me that everyone in school was talking about me, I just panicked. I'm so scared that no one's gonna like me anymore suddenly, that no one will want to come to my parties anymore or even sit with me at lunch. So I lied, because I didn't want anyone to hate me or talk about me behind my back. I'm sorry." After finishing, he looked away, rubbing one of his eyes again as if he had to start crying any second while Liam just stayed quiet.

All of this sounded a lot like Niall was serious, but he didn't know whether he could believe the boy or not. What if he fell for just another lie and be even more broken than before? Like, he WANTED to believe all of this, go back to normal, it just all sounded so unbelievable coming from the most popular kid he knew. Niall and being insecure, it just didn't fit. "I'm not sure if I can believe you, Niall, I mean… you were laughing the other day, and it didn't sound like a lie at all. Plus, you didn't have to be so extremely nasty, you know. Besides that, everyone will always come to your parties, everyone wants to be your friend and you know that."

"Everyone but _you_." At the last word, Niall's voice went up before he buried his more than red face in his hands, letting out a shaky breath that nearly caused Liam to put an arm around him. This situation was so messed up, there was nothing he wanted more than have Niall back, the Niall from the past three weeks, but he just couldn't give in now, not even when he heard the broken mumbles from next to him. "I really do like you… "

"Look, I… if everything you said is true and you really are so scared about anyone hating you or not liking you, then what's up with all the one night stands? It's not exactly making you look innocent right now and I'm pretty sure all those girls… or boys or whoever don't think too highly of you." This topic made Liam more uncomfortable than he would ever let show, but it was true, like, the one girl that had slapped Niall at his party was proof enough.

"I told them it's just sex, before we did anything. Before we met at the party, this girl told me to leave before I even touched her in any way, and I accepted it, I'm not forcing people into this. Or talk bad about them afterwards, there's no feelings, nothing. Just sex and everyone knows that." Niall still hadn't lifted his head but he did after finishing, staring at Liam's shoes instead of his face, his cheeks shimmering with tear tracks. 

"Why?" All of this had only created more confusion, but even though Liam tried to suppress it, somehow it got him hopeful that Niall really was a good person after all. A good person with… strange preferences and a lot of amazingly overplayed insecureness as it seemed like.

"Liam…" It was nearly just a whisper, then Niall took a deep breath, still staring holes at nothing before hugging himself tightly, as if he might fall apart if he didn't. "That night at my party, I asked you to stay with me because I hate sleeping alone in darkness. And in the morning, I wanted you to have breakfast with me so I wouldn't have to be by myself, so I'd have someone to talk to. My parents are gone all the time, because my dad's jobs involves a lot of traveling. My brother is at college and then that only leaves me. I got nobody, and I know I don't come off as lonely or desperate, but somehow I am. It's nicer to be drunk, have a house full of people and some girl in your bed you hardly know than waking up alone. I never told this to anybody, but I'm really scared and insecure, I'm just good at overplaying it. The people I hang out with sometimes, I don't really see them as friends, sure, I like them, but that's it, I couldn't trust them with anything or call them at night when I can't sleep because they'd laugh at me. Some of them use me because of my money and I know it but I don't say anything. I just don't want anybody to hate me because I can't take it, I just don't wanna end up alone one day, I'm lonely all the time already." 

After only half of Niall's confession, Liam's eyes had grown wide, none of those words sounded made up, it was just Niall spilling his heart out for the very first time like he had said. It made Liam tear up a bit to hear this, he had always assumed that Niall was kinda naive, but it turned out he knew exactly what he was doing, he didn't have a billion friends, a loving family and a perfect life. None of it, he had nobody and suddenly, everything made sense. "Niall…"

"It's okay, you don't have to believe me, but it's the truth, Liam. I was so awkward and clingy because I wasn't used to having to make someone like me, I don't know how it works, you know? But I was trying my best because I really started to like you and I feel good around you because it's like, I can tell you anything, I know you wouldn't run off or tell anybody or laugh. I just really hoped that you could be my friend… a real friend, I mean. Like Harry and Zayn are to you. And Louis now too. I wish someone had my back, you know? But I messed it all up and I'm really sorry, please believe me." Some fresh tears spilled over that he didn't bother to wipe away, blinking a few times, it was breaking Liam's heart hearing all this, no one could've made this all up and now that he knew, suddenly things made a lot more sense. Niall had told the truth, at least to him, he was just a lonely, scared boy after all, god knows why he exactly wanted Liam to be his friend, but it was pretty obvious now that he really did.

"You did mess up, but… but I believe you, Niall. And I really hope I'm not gonna regret it but I like you too, and we can still be friends if you want to." Zayn, Harry and also Louis would probably kill Liam, but somehow he found that it was wroth seeing Niall slowly look at him before finally his smile decided to make a return. It was only shy at first, but as Liam decided to screw everything and open his arms a little, Niall had thrown himself at him in less than a second. 

"You're not gonna regret it, I promise, okay? And if I do anything you don't like you have to tell me and I'll stop, I don't wanna annoy you anymore like the first week or if you don't want me to sit with you and your friends you just have to say it and-"

"Woah, Niall, calm down, okay?" Liam couldn't help but chuckle quietly, making sure not to hug Niall back too tightly, but the boy seemed so eager, burying his face in Liam's shoulder and nearly causing both of them to fall backwards and on top of each other. "I don't mind you sitting with me and my friends. And about being annoying, that was just the first few days, I kinda… enjoyed it afterwards, you know. I mean, I like texting with you too and stuff."

"Me too. I never text anybody for so long, it's nice and my parents had this really stupid people over so thank you for distracting me. You should come over again soon, we still haven't played video games in my room." Immediately, all the excitement and the bubbliness was back, Niall pulled back a little, still leaving his hands on Liam's shoulders though, grinning right into his face. Wow, this was the cutest thing ever, his happiness over having Liam back. "Maybe you can sleep over, if you want to, I mean, I wouldn't mind at all." 

"Um, yeah, why not." Slowly, and without really wanting to, Liam carefully let go of Niall's waist as he realized he had still been holding it. Maybe it was stupid, but the butterflies in his stomach were back and the idea of staying over night Niall's house made him all giddy. "Thanks for waiting for so long for me after school, by the way."

"I'd always wait for you." With that, Liam's heart made another very uncomfortable jump, Niall let go of him for like, two seconds, before resting his head on Liam's shoulder instead, scooting a little closer. "I'll go tell my friends that I lied and that I really do like you and that we're friends, okay? And they can go fuck themselves if they get mad."

"Niall, you… you don't have to, it's not that I really care what those people think of us hanging out, you know. Besides, I don't want you to lose them all because of, well, me." Right, school would be complicated, Liam had to tell Harry and the other two about everything, which he couldn't really do because Niall had just opened up to him, he couldn't just share it with everyone because it'd be easier to explain this way. 

"No, I have to tell them, they'll understand." That didn't sound very convincing. "And if they don't then… whatever, I mean… Louis hates me too, I still um… got other people. And I got you." 

"You do. I mean, it's your decision anyway, but I'll talk to Louis, alright? And Harry and Zayn too." Right when Liam decided that it would be alright to put his arm around Niall's shoulders, the weight against him disappeared and he stared down into a pretty panicked face instead. "What's wrong?"

"When you say… you'll talk to them… do you mean that you're gonna tell them… what I just told you?" Maybe it were his too big, beautiful eyes right in front of Liam that made his mind dizzy, fact was that when Niall stared at him, all scared and torturing his bottom lip with his teeth, Liam couldn't help but reach out with one hand and gently pulling his thumb down the boy's chin to make him stop. The gesture was pretty innocent, he had always wanted to touch Niall's perfect face somehow, but he would've never imagined to see Niall blushing because of the touch.

"I won't, don't worry, unless you wanted me to of course, but I'd never tell your secretes to anybody." No idea what else he'd say, it didn't really seem to matter now anyway because Liam's hand was still gently resting against Niall's face, his skin was really as soft as it looked like, pale as well, but since it was all flushed now his cheek had a pretty undertone to it. If Liam had been brave enough, he would've run his fingers over it.

"T-Thanks…" Niall half choked on the word, then he leaned a little bit closer, as far as that was possible, he would end up in Liam's lap next time. Not that Liam would've minded that. "Remember… remember when I called you pretty?"

"Um… I-I guess?" Now Niall wasn't the only one with a blushed face anymore, why would he start with that now?! Liam dropped his hand in shock, suddenly hyper aware of how close they were sitting, hopefully he was just imaging Niall's breath hitting his skin.

"I meant that." Had he?

If Liam's throat hadn't been so tight that he would've coughed right into Niall's face then maybe he would've replied with 'You too' because damn, Niall was the definition of beautiful and seeing him this close was nearly overwhelming. One of them should've probably pulled away a long time ago, maybe they also should've gone inside at some point, or Liam at least, because it was getting a bit colder outside and people walking past might have found this strange, but no one moved for quite a too long time. So long that Liam started wondering what would happen if he pressed his lips on top of Niall's, just to test it of course, not because he was in love with him or something. A little bit maybe, but wasn't everyone?

Completely caught up in his thoughts and focusing on analyzing every single birthmark in Niall's face, Liam didn't exactly catch Niall's eyes flickering down to his own lips, it only lasted for a second anyway. Still, it would've been very helpful because maybe if he had payed a tad more attention, he wouldn't have been so surprised by being kissed right on the mouth.

It wasn't forceful at all, Niall just kissed him lightly, sneaking one hand up to the back of Liam's neck, nearly causing him to shut his eyes and go with it as the soft lip's resting against his own moved a bit. But luckily, Liam realized what was going on then, immediately pulling back in complete shock. "What the hell, Niall?!"

"Sorry, sorry, I got carried away, I promise!" Immediately, all the tension from before was back, only this time, Liam jumped up, way too worked up to remain sitting there. Had that just really happened? Hadn't Niall just cried the whole day for Liam to believe him and now he was still trying to start something?!

"What is wrong with you? I just told you that I believe you and now you pull something like this, what-"

"It's not what you think, really!" Niall got onto his feet as well, trying to grab Liam's wrist and stop him from walking up and down, but he couldn't really grasp him. "I just really wanted to kiss you since forever!"

Now that caused Liam to stop, his jaw dropping open as he saw how Niall blushed deeply, immediately covering his mouth with his hand, a shocked expression spreading in his face, as if he couldn't believe he had just said that. Well, he wasn't the only one. "You… what?"

"Nothing, I… nothing, forget I said that, okay?" The laugh escaping Niall was so forced and out of place, it nearly caused Liam to cringe.

"I can't forget it, tell me what you meant, why did you do it?" As Liam mindlessly grabbed Niall's upper arms to keep him from stepping away further, the other boy squirmed a bit, not managing to pull away though, so instead, he settled for staring at something over Liam's shoulder.

"I just…" Niall gulped, trying to catch his breath a little, the whole situation had gotten so strange, Liam wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to understand what was REALLY going on. "I just like you a lot. And I-I… I don't know, I thought you liked me too and…it's dumb, I don't know…"

"I do like you." Liam blurted out dumbly, not really getting what this was about now and obviously his stupidness caused Niall to sigh once more, his face getting even redder. No one could blame him though, they had _kissed_ for god's sake!

"No, I mean… I just like you so much and you're always so nice and funny and I've been thinking about kissing you so often the past few days, I… I'm sorry, I didn't know… god, I'm such a fuck up." While Niall obviously tried his hardest to not have yet another emotional breakdown, Liam thought he could feel ringing in his ears and pass out from what he had just heard. Niall Horan had just confessed he was fucking crushing on him, well, he hadn't exactly used those words but… fuck.

"Niall, I… I don't really know what to say, I just…I'm sorry I yelled…" Yeah, but what else could he have done?! Sure, he liked Niall, but he had never thought about whether they'd ever work as… more than friends, since Niall had all those parties and people he had slept with and everyone knew that he didn't 'do' relationships, Liam had never allowed himself to even daydream about something like this. Would he even want that anyway? Maybe Niall hadn't even been that serious after all, though he sure as hell looked like it.

"It's okay… I shouldn't have kissed you, I guess I'm just not, ummm… used to being on the other side." This time he managed to pull away from Liam's hands not really holding him really tight anymore, he stepped back a little, looking anywhere but into Liam's face.

"Other side … of what?" Not that it was so hard to guess, but somehow Liam wanted to hear the words and his question caused Niall to sigh desperately, closing his eyes as if he was in pain.

"Being the one who … who stuffs Valentine's Day cards into a locker and shows up uninvited to someone's house and thinks about kissing them and touching them all day long." All day long?! "Do you… like me a little bit at least? I know I'm shit at all of this… I never know what to do or… I would've asked you on a date, but I've never even been on a date myself."

Liam's head felt kinda dizzy as he listened to what Niall said, the fact that this seemed to get to him so badly was making him feel really bad because of before, hell, maybe Liam even would've agreed to go on a date with Niall, maybe it would've helped him to sort out his feelings a bit. And not suddenly starting to question them all because of a five seconds long kiss. "Look, Nialler…"

This was the first time that he had really said the nickname out loud instead of only reading it on his phone, making Niall's head shoot up immediately. His eyes were kinda watery now and he was hugging himself again, nervously shifting his feet as Liam took a quick breath.

"It would be a lie to say that I've never… had thoughts involving you and me being more than just friends, but I just… need some time to think about this. I appreciate that you've told me all of this, okay? I know it didn't make you very comfortable and I'm sorry I couldn't kiss you back. And you're not shit at any of this…well, not that I'd know, because I've never been on a date either, but anyway, I… we're still okay, right?" Because that was his biggest concern, what if they had managed everything to go back to normal just so that it could fall apart again now? The situation was a bit tensed now, besides, Liam still couldn't believe that someone as amazing and beautiful as Niall, who could literally have anyone, would ever LIKE like him. Maybe it was just a phase and it would go away.

"If you say we're okay then we are…you're kinda all I got, you know…" Shit, there was that sniff again, followed by Niall hanging his head low, pulling the sleeves of his jacket over his fingers. 

"Oh, Niall…" Ever since their 'talk' at school this morning and seeing Niall without wearing his usual smile and infecting everyone around him with happiness, it had been kinda hard for Liam to see him as the boy he had hated for three years. Suddenly he was just Niall, his friend that had never really experienced what it felt like to have someone catching you if you fall, or someone being there to listen whenever you felt bad. All it made Liam feel was desperately wanting to be the one person Niall could rely on, whether it be as friends or more, it didn't really matter right now as he rushed over to wrap the boy close to tears up in his arms.

"It'll be okay, I promise. If anything ever happens, you can always call me, or if you wanna talk about something, I'll listen. I'm gonna make sure Zayn and the others aren't mad anymore and you can sit with us or hang out with us whenever you want to, you're never gonna be alone, no matter what happens." Usually, Liam wouldn't have promised this to anyone he had just started talking to three weeks ago, but maybe he finally had to see that everyone had somehow been right. Niall really was something special, maybe in other ways to Liam than to everyone else.

"Thank you… can I stay with you for a while? I don't wanna go home…and I missed you…" His arms were way too tightly wrapped around Liam's waist and his voice muffled because of the fact that he had his face buried in Liam's neck, no one could've told him no in this moment.

"I missed you too, Nialler, and of course you can stay, you know that." God, Liam hadn't just missed this boy, he had fucking cried over him in Harry's bathroom, something he'd never tell him, but he still could've laughed about how relieved he was to be holding Niall now.

They stayed like this for a while, not talking or letting go and after a few minutes, Liam buried his face in Niall's hair, breathing in like he had always wanted to. Somehow all boundaries seemed to be gone, it didn't feel weird anymore to randomly touch each other or hug like this. The only downside to this was that it didn't exactly help Liam to understand his own feelings because he was overwhelmed by all the affection Niall was suddenly giving him.

Yet still, he hadn't even thought about complaining later when they sat on his bed again and Niall crawled so close that he ended up half on top of Liam. Or after Niall had procrastinated leaving for so long that it was pitch black outside, Liam never regretted kissing his cheek before letting him drive off, even though he had to fight hard against the urge to touch his tingling lips afterwards and wipe that stupid grin off his face.

———

"So to sum it up… you're forgiving him that he called you a virgin that he just wants a quick fuck with because he told you he didn't _mean_ it? And now you're hanging out again?" Well, it sounded stupid this way, and coming out of Harry's mouth, like, he wasn't even mad, he was just staring at Liam as if he had grown another head.

"Haz, besides the fact that I am a virgin-" A glare. "I told you about a million times that it's been a misunderstanding. His friends were teasing him about me and he just wanted to make sure they leave him alone. Besides, why would he keep this up if he knew that I know and also that the 'quick fuck' or whatever, is never going to actually happen?" Liam was proud of himself, considering the fact that he had come up with this five minutes before facing Harry, it seemed pretty smart.

"Why would he even say something like that in the first place? He could've just said that you're stalking him and he's trying to be nice or something." Now it was Liam's time to glare, causing Harry to shrug his shoulders and let out a quick laugh. "Calm down, I was kidding. Can I still talk to Niall though?"

"Um, why?" This was a tad uncomfortable, Liam had promised Niall that first of all, he wouldn't say anything about what had happened on friday and also that he was sure no one would ever want to bring this up again. It was sunday now and so far he had told both Zayn, who had taken it much more relaxed than he had thought, and Harry, who'd probably call Louis right after this, so basically, as soon as this conversation was over, Liam was free to go back home and worry some more about the development of his relationship with Niall. Pretty normal condition by now.

"Because I wanna make sure he knows that next time he breaks your heart he'll never be able to throw one of those parties of his ever again. Even though they kinda saved my love life and … they are pretty amazing and-"

"I got it. Please be nice to Niall, alright? He… he was really down because of this and I like him, okay?" A lot more than Liam would like to admit. Yesterday Niall had called sometime during the day, not even mentioning the purpose of the conversation before just starting to talk about anything that came to his mind. And then he shad tarted asking Liam all those questions about how his day had been going so far and whether he had gone for a run this morning because it had been raining pretty heavily and he had been worried. That was about he cutest thing Liam had ever experienced, no doubt.

"You guys would make such a good couple. It's like in a movie, you hate each other and then you end up getting married." Unfortunately Harry missed the pillow Liam threw at him because he decided to lie down on his bed in exactly that moment, laughing a bit, as if he knew how sensitive that topic was.

"Ever since you're dating Louis your romantic talk is freaking me out a bit." Which was true, but Liam acted like he had been joking, thinking of how he'd tell Harry that he couldn't stay for dinner like he had promised. The only reason why he was here anyway was because Louis didn't have any time because of some family gathering at his house. "Look… I think I should get home in a bit. I still gotta study." 

"Oh. Right. Remember when we had so many classes together last year we could study together? That was more fun." It really had been, even though Liam's grades had been worse last year as well since he was better at studying by himself, but Harry didn't seem too excited about him leaving so soon.

"True, but I really gotta get better… finals are in a few months." Deep down, Liam had already given up on ending this school year well, it would just be a little bit sad for him since all of his friend would go away and then he'd probably be the only one stuck here and with a shitty job. He really wondered what Niall was planning on doing after school, he should ask him sometime.

"Well, maybe Niall can help you study, correct me if I'm wrong but hasn't he gotten like… straight A's? Not even Louis is that good." Louis wasn't as good as Niall because simply no one was and maybe Liam shouldn't have felt pride swelling in his chest. Niall wasn't his, they weren't even dating or anything…right, but they could be, if Liam would get over himself.

"Yeah, he's really good, maybe I'll ask him." Probably not though, it wasn't embarrassing to tell Harry that he needed to study because Harry was about as good as Liam, but with Niall… he didn't want him to think that he was dumb or anything.

About ten minutes later, after telling Harry's mum twelve times that he could really walk and wouldn't need her to drive him, Liam found himself wasting time while walking back home. It could be that his mother was home though he wasn't really sure and he didn't care that much after all. She wouldn't call him if he wasn't there, ever since they had moved here, Liam had pretty much been on his own. but he was alright, he had his friends after all. And Niall.

Thinking about him wasn't a really good thing to do because it usually ended with Liam not doing anything else anymore for the next few hours. The kiss was still bugging him a lot, but giving Niall a chance would be like… messing everything up in case they ever broke up again and Liam still wasn't really sure about his feelings, he had never had a crush on anybody, so how'd he know?

Besides that, and Niall could never know, but it was pretty intimating to know that Niall had so much experience with everything while Liam had none at all, like, what if he sucked at kissing? He really liked Niall, so he didn't wanna mess it up and everything would be much easier if they just stayed friends. Would he be able to manage that though? And would they even last until after high school? 

Because of all the thinking, Liam didn't even notice his phone vibrating in his pockets at first, so when he finally pulled it out, he nearly missed the call. "Yes?"

"Liam? It's me…" Niall, without a doubt, Liam hadn't checked before because he had nearly dropped his phone trying to be quick, but hearing this voice immediately caused him to smile. Exactly the reason why resisting for too long would be hard.

"Hey, you okay?" Just checking, Niall hadn't sounded as excited as he usually did and maybe Liam should feel embarrassed for noticing every single detail, but he was just worried.

"Y-Yeah… um, what are you doing right now? Are you busy?" Niall sounded a bit nervous, he was probably biting around on his lip too while waiting for an answer.

"No, I'm just walking home from Harry's house. Did anything happen? Where are you?" Hopefully safe, was all Liam could think, his protective instincts immediately kicking in, ever since he had seen Niall cry, he had sworn to himself to never let anything hurt him this badly ever again.

"I'm okay… I'm in my car, but I'm not driving, I just… can I ask you for a very weird favor?" It seemed as if he had needed a lot of courage to bring this out, which was exactly why Liam tried his best to make his voice sound soft, whatever it was, he'd probably agree anyway.

"Sure, what is it?" Would it have been weird to add _babe_ at the end?

"Alright, well… you know, my parents are both home and… and Greg came home from college too last night and… would you mind having dinner with my family?" The question was very hard to understand due to the fact that Niall seemed really uncomfortable about asking it, he let out a sound at the end, as if he had held his breath.

"Do you… really want me to?" Liam wasn't sure whether he wanted to do this, he had never seen anyone from Niall's family, besides in the pictures at Niall's house but from what Niall had told him… maybe Liam wasn't so keen on meeting Mr. and Mrs. Horan.

"Yeah… I know that that's a lot to ask for and I wouldn't do it, but… but my dad will talk about how good Greg is doing at college and about his girlfriend and then he will ask me and I didn't do so good at my last test and he'll get mad and then he'll yell and I … I just don't wanna be there alone…" That made Liam stop walking immediately, hearing Niall say that was like being punched, he shouldn't have to be scared of his own family, of course Liam would go there now and support him, no one should be mean to Niall, ever.

"It's alright, Nialler, I can come, I just… I'll be home in-"

"I can pick you up from where you're at?" Looking down, Liam wasn't really sure if this was something appropriate to wear to dinner with people who had their own cook, but then again, he didn't have anything at home that would look much better, so he was kinda screwed anyways.

"Okay, I'm near the park, you know, the smaller one, just call me again when you're there and I'll find you." Hearing Niall's voice getting a bit more relaxed was seriously all Liam had wanted to achieve, just now he was the one being nervous.

  


"You look really nice." It just came out of Liam's mouth as soon as he slipped into the passenger seat of Niall's car, earning a small smile. Of course Niall really did look nice, but he had kinda been thinking about the fact that he himself was wearing a simple shirt and jeans with a rip while Niall had a fucking plaid on. "I shouldn't be going there looking like this, should I?"

"It's alright, Liam, you look good. You always do." For a second they looked at each other, Liam feeling the blush creeping into his face quickly made him pull the door closed and put his seat belt on. Niall would've probably also said that if he had been wearing a trash bag. "My parents won't care."

"Then why are you all dressed up?" That made Niall close his mouth quickly, looking back at the road as he started the car again. God, he looked so good while driving, Liam had noticed that before, but today was really extreme because of the clothes and the styled hair and just _everything_. How'd he pull himself together if he wanted Niall so badly?

"Well, I could also wear sweatpants but then my dad would hold a lecture about me never getting a job and how I can't let myself go and I'd rather avoid that. But you're a guest so he won't say anything to you, don't worry." Liam shouldn't have asked, now the smile had left Niall's face, being replaced by a slight frown that he didn't like to see in such beautiful features, but before he could do something, Niall quickly changed the topic, trying to be casual. "Did you tell Harry?"

"Yeah… and I also told Zayn. They're not mad at you anymore, don't worry, I didn't tell them anything about friday. And if Harry comes to talk to you about it then you don't have to say anything, just tell me and I'll make sure he stops." Talking about Harry, Liam felt a small pinch of guilt in his stomach, he really would've had to study like he had told his best friend, but Niall was a tad more important.

"What about Louis?" As Liam watched the side of Niall's face, he immediately felt even worse for not talking to Louis himself, he was the most important to Niall and it was his fault that they weren't friends anymore. Well, not Liam's fault exactly seeing as this whole thing had been a misunderstanding, but still.

"Harry will tell him, I suppose… but don't worry, I'm gonna talk to him too and make sure you guys are alright again." Liam owed Niall that, sure, what Niall had done had been pretty intense, but ever since Liam knew about all of his reasons, he couldn't help but feel sorry for him instead and wanting to do everything just so he'd be alright. Like now for example.

"Thanks, Li…" The fact that Niall had caught up on the nickname never failed to make Liam smile, he waited for a red light before reaching over so he wouldn't scare Niall, leaning his elbow on the driver's seat so he could reach Niall's hair. Almost immediately after he ran his fingers through some parts where he couldn't mess it up too much, Niall blushed terribly, pretending that he didn't even notice as he drove on. "How often do you dye your hair? I never asked you that."

"I don't know really… just sometimes, when there's too much brown I guess." The fact that Niall didn't try to move his head away motivated Liam to carry on playing with a few strands before slipping down a little, until he was touching the bare side of Niall's neck.

"I'd like to see you with brown hair." Niall's breath hitched a little when he felt fingers caressing his skin which made Liam smirk, he liked being allowed to do stuff like this.

"It looks dumb." They were nearly at Niall's house, causing both of them to shift a little, but Liam tried to tell himself that no matter what was going to happen, he'd help Niall through this, which was the only idea behind that, no need to leave an impression on anyone.

"You can't even look dumb, Nialler, impossible." As the car stopped, Niall slowly turned his head, automatically giving Liam the chance to move his hand to the other boy's cheek instead, carefully cupping the side of his face as if he was made out of glass. It shouldn't be possible to be this beautiful, he would've told Niall that, but the poor boy was blushed enough already. "Should we go?"

"Hm." Was the only answer Liam got, he saw Niall's eyes going down as he stroked his cheekbone with his thumb slowly, wondering what would've happened if they hadn't had somewhere to be, like, how would he have ever been able to stop touching Niall? "Liam…"

"Yes?" Before Liam could worry that maybe Niall didn't like his hand near him, he had already wrapped his own around it and brought them down into his lap, sending sparks through Liam's body. Holding hands was a new thing, something they should've definitely done sooner though because Niall's palm was so soft and gentle, it fit into Liam's as if it had been made to be.

"Thanks for doing this. I'd do anything to get out of this, so I really appreciate that you don't." His smile was really shaky, but he gave Liam's hand a squeeze before sadly letting go of him and getting his keys before opening up the door, automatically ending their time alone. Now Liam would have to wait for probably hours.

"Anything for you."

  


Liam felt slightly uneasy entering this house, knowing that Niall and him wouldn't be going downstairs to simply watch movies or that there was no party going on. Without half the school in here, everything was just so big and open, it was slightly scaring, even more now that Liam was about to meet Niall's family. He tried to not be too obvious while trying to stay as close to Niall as possible, but he got a quick side hug anyway, nothing more, which made him assume that touching in any way was probably not going to be appreciated during the next hours. 

"It's alright, okay? I'm here. Just be how you always are and if they ask you any weird questions then I'll try my best and get you out of it, I promise." Weird questions? How calming.

"Okay…" Liam really tried hard to smile back at Niall while following him down the hall, suddenly wishing to be anywhere in this world but here. With Niall of course, he couldn't just leave him.

It was even worse than Liam had thought, they were all already sitting by the table, of course dressed all nicely, even though Niall's brother obviously found it less important to put an effort into wearing nice pants too, but at least his didn't have a fucking rip, god, Liam couldn't have been more out of place, he didn't even know how he actually managed to take one step after another.

"Where have you been, Niall? We said 7:30, that's almost fifteen minutes too late." There were no plates on the table, Niall's dad was drinking something that probably wasn't water, his mother looked rather pissed because of them not being on time and Greg watched Liam for a bit before looking back at his parents, obviously swallowing down laughter. 

"Sorry, there was traffic. So, that's Liam, like I told you before." Now it was too late to run, shit.

Going to your execution probably felt nicer than Liam did as he walked up to Niall's dad, hoping that his hand wasn't shaking to hard as he stretched it out. "Nice to meet you, um, sir."

Was SIR, really appropriate? Judging by how much this suit must have cost, probably, at least Mr. Horan put his glass down now, looking at Liam for a bit before letting his hand go again after half squishing it. His face didn't look too strict, but he also was far from cracking a smile. "A pleasure, Liam….?"

Since Liam didn't get what he wanted, Niall quickly jumped in for help, not that Liam would've been able to look at him, he felt as if he had frozen on the spot. "Payne. Liam Payne."

"Ah." So that was all, Liam thought that no interest at all was way, way better than being asked too many questions, he hurried to shake the hand of Niall's mum too, getting a smile this time, but it didn't look friendly, it was more as if she was secretly making fun of him. Or maybe Liam was too damn paranoid.

Greg didn't shake Liam hand, he just nodded at him and Niall actually had to give Liam a soft push to make him move again, the fact that no one was talking wasn't making sitting down any easier, every move felt as if it was being watched and judged. At least Niall and Liam sat next to each other, facing Niall's brother and his mum while his dad was sat at the head of the table. It kinda was like Liam had expected, he just plainly stared at the table in front of him, hoping this would pass.

After they had actually _rung a fucking bell_ Liam nearly lost his shit and panicked, he looked at Niall, hoping to find some comfort in his face but if anything, the other boy was probably feeling just as sick. 

"So, Niall, did you know that your brother has good chances of being accepted to my company? We talked about that while you were gone picking up your… friend." What else would Liam be?! 

"Really? That's great." The fake enthusiasm obviously didn't bother Niall's dad at all, as if he had been expecting it anyway, he just nodded before taking another sip, eying his older son more closely.

"It is, indeed. A very big accomplishment, he knew that I wouldn't give him the position if he didn't work hard enough and so he did, all through high school too. What are your grades like, Niall?" Liam felt so bad, he wanted to reach over and hold Niall's hand, but he just couldn't move, he wasn't even able to look away from his lap halftime, even if it was rude. Right now he didn't care about being polite though, he only wanted to survive this without being picked to pieces.

"If I keep my grades after finals, I'll get-"

" _If_?" Jesus.

The topic got dropped luckily once two servants brought out place, they had to go again for Liam and it was the most embarrassing moment he had ever experienced. And he had seen Harry naked once because he had forgotten to knock, so that said something, his head was so red, it wouldn't have surprised him to hear a comment on it soon.

For a few second everyone was just eating, Liam tried to mimic Niall's brother's movements since he was sitting opposite of him but turned out he was way too tensed to move his hand so lightly and risk dropping something, so instead, he chewed every bite five million times.

"So why doesn't everybody say something about their day?" The inaudible groan coming from both Greg and Niall didn't even need to be heard to know that it was there once their mother spoke up, she smiled encouragingly at her husband, apparently trying to stop this awkward silence.

"Alright then. I signed the contract for Greg's new car and on my way to the parking lot, I thanked the lord for blessing our family so much and making it possible for me to reward my son for acting exactly like I raised him." Liam nearly choked on whatever he had had in his mouth, he wasn't even sure like, it could've been everything, he didn't even recognize the taste. From the corner of his eye, he could see Niall throwing a worried glance at him, probably because he was tearing up while trying not to cough.

"Wonderful." Mrs. Horan smiled even bigger now, carefully placing her fork on the edge of her plate, as if this action would define her life or something. "On my way to the spa today, I saw a _very_ poor woman sitting on the sidewalk and begging for money and even though I usually despise such behavior in public, I felt like breaking out of my routine and gave her five pounds. Not everyone's life can be as fulfilling and successful as ours is, we should all remind ourselves of that."

Greg first of all had to swallow when it was his turn because he probably hadn't even been paying attention, he didn't seem to appear as insane as Niall's parents, he was just here simply eating, not bothered by any of this. "Well, I drove the new car around."

And just like that, he didn't add anything else and immediately, everyone's eyes were on Liam. WAIT, they wanted to include him into this?! They wanted him to say something about his day?! Oh my god, why did this have to happen, it's not like this could have gotten any worse before, but it just had.

"I-I… " Made the worst decision of my life an hour ago when I decided to come here, that would've been his answer if he hadn't been a coward and if he had wanted to make Niall look bad for having friends like him. "Well, I… I didn't really, um…"

"Me and Liam worked on something for school together, he's in my english class and we have to read those books and-"

"Niall, it's not your turn yet. I do believe that everyone in this room is perfectly capable of speaking for themselves without needing any help from you. Besides, you don't interrupt people, if you act like this in school then it's no wonder you're not sure if you can keep your grades." Niall got a lot smaller in his seat after being scolded by his father for that and Liam wanted to die, without Niall's help, he wasn't even sure if he would bring one full sentence out. All he wanted to do right now was hug Niall and tell him that it was alright, that he shouldn't listen to his dad, but Niall's parents were looking at him again, waiting.

"I-I, yeah, we… me and Niall worked on this thing for school, that's, umm… actually all." Good thing that for one time Liam could actually bring a somewhat believable lie out, he was so damn thankful for Niall saying this before, there was no way he would've been able to think of anything himself. 

"Interesting. Well, Liam, is it? How are you doing at school? Good, I assume?" So one, Niall's dad left Niall out on purpose and two, he wasn't even looking at Liam while asking those question, no one was really, maybe it should've made this whole thing easier, but it just made Liam feel even more worthless. If Niall had to experience this just once a week then it was a wonder he was still as amazing as he was.

"I-I guess…" Actually not, but why would Liam admit that, he shared a look with Niall, getting a little smile that didn't help to cheer him up in any way, he could already feel that this wasn't done yet.

"Well, I wouldn't want my son to spend his time with high school drop outs or kids who might think it is cool to not get good grades and attend college. Which college are you planning on going to?" Shit, now he was really fucked.

"I h-haven't… thought about it that much…" It was pretty obvious that that was the wrong answer, yet it was still better than telling the truth and saying that he probably would never see what a college looked like from inside.

"I see. What do your parents do for a living?" As if Liam couldn't see why he got asked exactly those questions, it was getting really uncomfortable and Liam had stopped trying to be polite and make eye contact, he was staring at his almost full plate.

"Um… well my mum's a nurse and she… she works halftime at this coffee place… " The expected held back laughter never came, so Liam also didn't even attempt to look up, he would've never thought he could get so embarrassed over not being rich.

"And your father?" This was not going to get better.

"He… he changes his jobs a lot and… my parents are divorced, I don't see him often, so… I don't know." Maybe he was still looking for a new job, Liam didn't really care anyway, if it would go after him, he'd never see his dad again, but his mum would probably force him anyway. Hopefully not for Easter break though, he really didn't wanna be without Niall for ten days.

"Well, the way it is, I see why you're not thinking about college." Wow.

"Dad, stop." Niall suddenly spoke up, his voice sounded so aggressive that Liam actually stared at him, he shouldn't have done that, it would only get him into more trouble than he already was in. "You don't know anything about Liam, it's none of your business what-"

"Well, Niall, since he's a guest in my house after _you_ invited him, I think I should be allowed to ask questions and make observations. Your behavior is unacceptable tonight, are you acting out because you can't take that Greg is achieving something and you're not? If you studied more, you would already be done with high school, like me when I was one year younger than you and jumped a class." Even though they were fighting, Mr. Horan never once raised his voice, he didn't even look mad, he was simply looking at his son, calmly making sure that every single one of his words left a mark.

Liam wasn't really sure why or when he had gotten the guts to, but when he saw Niall's face, he just blurted out the first thing he could think of. "Niall's grades are the best out of senior class."

"I didn't expect anything else, but thank you for the input." The complete sarcasm was nearly offensive, it would have bothered Liam a lot more if he hadn't still been looking at Niall instead, desperately wanting him to turn his head but he just kept staring into his lap now.

"Alright, so, who's ready for dessert?" Of course, Mrs. Horan had to try and save the day, she clearly was uncomfortable too, but didn't say anything to neither Niall nor her husband. The only one who had kept his smile up was Greg, when Liam met his eyes on accident, he pulled his eyebrows up before looking at his little brother and then back to Liam. Whatever that meant.

There were no fights anymore, but it stayed tensed, Niall's mum was now doing most of the conversation, she luckily completely ignored Liam's existence, mostly talking about herself anymore.

So after Liam had waited for a bit, trying to figure out whether there was any way he could do this secretly, he reached over under the table with one hand, finding Niall's upper thigh and placing his hand on it, palm up. Less than ten seconds later, Niall let his arm drop from the table innocently, immediately intertwining his fingers with Liam, his face was still sad, but there might've been a small smile playing around his lips now.

  


"I'm sorry I put you through this, Li, I shouldn't have asked, I-"

"It's fine, Niall." As soon as the were out of the house, Liam took a deep breath, he had managed to embarrass himself even more when he had said goodbye to Niall's parents, but who'd place a carpet right there, it had been bound to happen that he'd stumble.

"No, I really am sorry. My dad was so rude, I wanted to kill him." Even though Niall seemed to be mad, he sounded more worried than anything else, Liam could feel his stare on the side of his face, but he'd prefer to wait until the blushing had gone away to look back.

"Well, at least no one commented on my clothes, that's been my biggest concern before." He joked, though none of them felt like laughing. It hadn't only been Liam who had felt uncomfortable after all, Niall seemed to be just as relieved when they were walking back to his car. They had only been inside for like two hours, to Liam's relief, Niall's dad had gotten up quickly after dessert, obviously automatically ending dinner for everyone else too.

"Yeah, I would've left if they had." Niall was shaking his head slowly to himself, as if he couldn't believe that any of this had happened, well, Liam couldn't either. At least now in case he and Niall would ever start dating, he knew that there'd be no use in trying to get friendly with his dad. "Thanks for trying to tell my dad about my grades."

"No problem, it didn't help much, I'm sorry, I just wanted to help. Thanks for standing up for me." They said this over the car, Liam had no idea why Niall was suddenly really concerned not to meet his eyes, but he did nod before getting into the driver's seat, waiting. "You okay?"

"I, well…" Obviously not, he fumbled with the keys a bit before actually starting the car, waiting a bit while Liam was putting his seat belt on. "Not really, I guess…"

"Hey… don't even think about any of this, okay? You're great in school and you're gonna do great afterwards too, it doesn't matter what your dad thinks. Or anyone, you should be doing this for you." Somehow a lot things made more sense now, for example the reason why Niall even was a straight A student in the first place, Liam couldn't image how much shit he'd get if he wasn't.

"Yeah, I just… I don't know. Just wish he'd stop praising Greg that much, y'know? I mean… it's not my fault I'm still in high school, but whatever. I'll drive you home." Liam was desperate to say something comforting, but he couldn't think of anything that would be good enough to truly make Niall smile, so instead he stayed quiet for a bit, watching the shadows moving on the blonde's face whenever they passed any lights. How stupid had Liam been for ever thinking that Niall's life was perfect, or even easy, he couldn't even begin to imagine what it must feel like, getting zero support from your family and not having anyone to talk to about it either. Well, he had Liam now but Liam didn't consider himself that great, not at all, he was still surprised every time Niall hugged him or stared at him as if he was the best thing to have ever happened.

They didn't say much during the drive, both kinda lost in thoughts, so Liam took up where he had left off before, gently brushing his fingers through Niall's hair, occasionally caressing the skin of his neck, it kinda had a calming effect for both of them. Doing this didn't exactly hide Liam's affection for Niall, or the fact that he felt the need to constantly touch the boy, but it's not like Niall didn't know how things were, Liam just wished he could be a 100% sure what he wanted, like Harry did with Louis, but it didn't seem to be this easy after all.

As if it was only normal to do this, Niall got out of the car to walk Liam to his front door as soon as they were there, not hesitating before wrapping his arms around the other boy's middle, pressing his face into Liam's neck and giving him a thousand tingles with every breath. "Can I drive you to school tomorrow morning?"

"Of course, I'd like that. Thank you." Them getting out of the same car once again wouldn't make it any easier for Niall to talk to his friends, he had told Liam that he would definitely do it and that he didn't care anymore what anyone thought of it. Which caused Liam to both feel proud but also nervous, he didn't want Niall to be sad about whatever his friends might do afterwards.

When Liam tightened his arms as he felt a slight shiver going through his body because of the wind, Niall didn't hesitate to do the same, hotly breathing out against Liam's skin as he spoke up again. "I wish you could stay with me."

That was really everything Liam had been longing to hear. "You wanna come inside?"

"If you want me to." There was no need to see Niall's face, Liam could hear him smiling through his voice and as they slowly pulled apart, he saw that he had been right. Whenever Niall's smile was missing for too long, he looked even more beautiful when it came back, maybe that was why Liam decided to keep an arm around his waist while locking up, having Niall lean into his side slightly.

"I'll always want you to. You don't have to be home for a while, do you?" For some reason Liam felt too shy to ask Niall to stay over night, partly because it was sunday night but mostly since he didn't know whether Niall would want to. Not asking was better than being rejected.

"I don't have to be home at all." Was all Niall said, smiling slightly at Liam, as if to encourage him that it was okay to ask that question, as if he knew. 

"Well, in that case…" Liam started, letting go of Niall for a bit to close the door again and kicking his shoes off quickly, immediately grabbing a hold of the other boy again afterwards. "It won't be such a problem if we happen to sleep in."

"Not at all actually. You know… I'm pretty tired." Niall started grinning widely, immediately infecting Liam as he grabbed a hold of Niall's waist with both hands, their foreheads almost touching when Niall leaned in a bit, sneaking an arm around Liam's neck. 

"Then maybe you should stay, I don't want anything to happen to you if you're sleepy while driving." There was literally no way to get even more obvious, but it didn't really matter that much because they both just smiled at each other until Liam couldn't resist anymore, pressing his lips against Niall forehead gently and closing his eyes for a second. "Come on, let's go upstairs."

Somehow Niall's hand ended up in Liam's as they walked up the stairs and neither of them pulled away, actually Liam made sure their fingers were intertwined while hoping that Niall didn't notice how excited this made him feel. The palm against his was warm, a little smaller than his yet perfect size, if Liam had had to hold hands with one single person for the rest of his life, it would definitely be Niall. 

Everything felt nice when they were together, the random touching, exchanging smiles all the time and simply having someone there to talk to and spend time with, something neither of them were really used to. Liam thought that his heart would jump out after he had found some clothes for Niall to sleep in, sure, he had worn one of his shirts before, but seeing him in one of Liam's favorite sweatpants, hanging low on his hips, was something completely different. Adding up to that, Niall made sure to pronounce how much he liked wearing Liam clothes and damn, he looked even cuter in them than he did already anyways.

"Do we need a second blanket?" After Niall helping Liam to pack his school stuff, actually more looking at things in his room and commenting on everything, they decided to lie down, not even thinking of pretending to keep their distances. There was no use to anyway, Liam wouldn't have even been able to not pull Niall right next to him, making their arms and legs touch, but he still wasn't sure whether the blanket would be big enough for two. Not that he had ever done something like this.

"Nope." Niall sounded pretty convinced, before Liam could ask how he would know that, Niall turned to his side, pulling himself even closer until he simply slipped one of his legs in between Liam's wrapping an arm around his stomach and reaching down to drape the blanket over both of their bodies. "See?"

"Y-Yeah…" In fact, Liam didn't see anything besides how close Niall's face was to his, his heart hammering in his chest over feeling another body pressed up against his like that. It really did feel good, probably because it was Niall, but it was new too, he would've never even dreamed of stuff like this happening to him in real life. 

After another smile, Niall didn't put his head down, he stayed curled up against Liam, biting his bottom lip in that one way that made Liam see stars. "You know… I wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?" That made Niall sigh quietly, he was drawing patterns on Liam's chest, over his shirt, but it still felt so intense that Liam had to wrap his arm around Niall, just do have something to hold on to.

"I just, um… before… I didn't know your parents are divorced." For some reason, Liam relaxed a bit, he had been scared that this would be about something else and really, any topic was easier to talk about than trying to explain to Niall why he still hadn't managed to figure out if he returned his feelings and if he wanted to give them a chance.

"Yeah… well it happened like five years ago, it's not that big of a deal." Liam just shrugged, watching Niall's face go a bit sadder, he would've reached out to try and lift the corners of his mouth with his thumb, but Niall was faster. Gently stroking Liam's cheek with the back of his fingers, obviously not noticing how Liam's breath hitched, it was such a nice gesture, so gentle and loving.

"What happened?" Niall asked then, brushing his thumb over Liam's cheekbone before slowly moving his hand up into his hair, much like Liam had done the other way around before in the car. It felt so good, Liam nearly sighed but he settled for simply shutting his eyes in bliss, which encouraged Niall to carry on, massaging his scalp tenderly.

At first, Liam thought about lying, but then he remembered all the shit Niall had to go through because of his dad and how he hadn't been afraid to let Liam know either, he had opened up about so many things in general, he deserved the truth. Maybe it'd be good to tell someone. "Well… my parents have been fighting a lot, over years and… it only got worse. My dad, he… hit me a few times, he was really abusive and it got so bad that I had to stay home from school one day because everyone would've noticed. So my mum decided to take me and my sisters and leave."

The silence following afterwards nearly made Liam open up his eyes, but then he didn't because Niall carried on running his fingers through his hair, his heartbeat matching Liam's as their chests were pressed together like this. "I'm so sorry, Li, I… you know, my dad is an asshole, but yours is on a whole other level, I hate that you had to go through something like this."

"It's okay… my mum wanted me to visit him for Easter because she'll be gone, but I haven't seen him in years, I mean… he probably won't do something like this again, but…" Liam still didn't want to go, he opened his eyes when he felt Niall caressing his face now instead, he had gotten much closer, just a few centimeters more and they would've been kissing.

"Usually I'd say you should forgive people, but in this case… I don't want you to go stay with him either." Hearing Niall say that was surprising, but he sounded damn serious, frowning slightly while brushing his thumb over Liam's eyebrow. He was so sweet, and his finger pads were so soft and gentle, it could've put Liam to sleep instantly if there hadn't been so many butterflies and Niall's gorgeous face keeping him more than awake.

"I won't. I'll just stay home and maybe study or-"

"You can come stay with me and we study together. My parents won't be home, it's just me and… well you, if you want to." Finally, some light came back into Niall's eyes, he had stopped his hand movements with his fingers just resting against Liam's temple now, excitement filling his voice. "I mean, we can also just hang out sometimes, I just thought… it'd be great if you just got some of your stuff and stayed at my house for… a few days… or the whole break if you want to. I wouldn't mind, not at all actually."

For a few seconds, Liam was a bit speechless, blinking a few times as he watched Niall turning redder every passing second, and then he couldn't help it but laugh quietly, tightening his arm around a more than blushed Niall. "I'd love to stay with you… you're so damn cute when you're excited, did you know that?"

"Oh, shush, Liam…" Niall tried to be mad for a bit, but then he cracked a little smile, touching the corner of Liam's mouth. "You're cute too."

"Well, you're way cuter, Nialler, and you're beautiful." They'd definitely make one of those cheesy couples.

"You really think that?" The fact that Niall didn't believe him at first got Liam to furrow his eyebrows, didn't he know how amazing he was, it was pretty clear by the way that really no one could deny how pretty Niall was, not even Harry had.

"Of course I do, it's true, Niall. You're the most beautiful person I'll ever meet." That being said, Liam first of all didn't feel nervous about saying it at all, because everyone else would've told Niall the same, but it seemed to be a much bigger deal that it been Liam.

Within half a second, Niall had made quick process with the last few centimeters between them, pressing his lips against Liam's, a little more forceful than last friday. This time, Liam shut his eyes automatically, maybe also because he felt Niall gently cupping the side of his face, letting a tiny noise escape that Liam could feel in his bones.

He knew that this shouldn't be happening because he hadn't decided what to do yet, it would be unfair to Niall. The other boy didn't seem to care about Liam's lack of response, he just moved his lips gently, not pushing anything, and Liam let him even if his guilt was eating him alive, but it felt so nice to have Niall's mouth against his own, it made him kiss back without spending a thought on it.

Sometime when Niall parted his lips, Liam decided to make this stop, he could've gotten lost in the kiss, moved his hand under Niall's shirt to feel his warm skin on his palm, but instead, he brought it to his shoulder, pushing him away gently, just so he'd be able to whisper something. "Niall… I can't."

"Why?" Their lips were still brushing together, breath mixing as they had to catch a little air, Niall especially, but at the same time he sounded broken and Liam hated himself instantly. He should've pushed him back a second later, shouldn't have given Niall any hope even if it had just been for a minute.

"Because I… I gotta think about it, please, try and understand I… I don't wanna ruin this. Ruin us, with a relationship and I… I've never been in one before and …" And Niall had experience with all of this, but he didn't say that, it wouldn't be nice to practically call him a slut, because that's not what Liam thought about him at all, he just was a bit nervous, plus he always had in mind that their ways would most likely part in a few months, so what then?

"Me neither." There was a sigh, then Niall's warm breath was gone and Liam opened his eyes, immediately regretting it when he saw tears welling up in the other boy's face. Shit, he had promised himself he'd never make him cry again, but the longer they looked at each other, the harder it got for Niall to fight the tears back and suddenly, they just spilled over. "I know you're probably disgusted because I've been whoring around, and I sure as hell deserve that I can't have you, I… I didn't have to try this hard with anyone else yet you're the only one I've ever liked and I just keep messing up, I'm so sorry, Li, I didn't mean to be such an idiot, I'd do anything to be with you…"

As he sobbed quietly, trying to wipe his tears and moving away, Liam immediately tightened his arms to keep the boy close, moving them so they were lying on their sides, foreheads nearly touching, but Niall was still crying pretty badly, breaking Liam's heart all over again. God, how much he wished Niall knew how much he wanted to be with him too, and how wrong he was, talking about himself in such a horrible way. "Niall, shsh, that's not it at all, you're not a whore, you're wonderful and you're so special to me, babe, you've got no idea, I could never ever be disgusted with you, I liked the kiss, both kisses. I just need to figure this out and I'm not asking you to wait for me because I know how much I'd be asking with that. All I want is to be sure about it, this has nothing to do with you, you're absolutely amazing, Ni, and I'm so proud of you because you're so sweet and kind, even with everything happening."

No response, Niall just kept crying on, letting out a strangled sob before pulling himself closer until he could bury his face in Liam's neck, it was so painful to see something like this, Liam immediately hugged him as tight as he could, placing kisses into the blonde hair. Just so he could freeze at what Niall choked out in between all the crying. "I l-love you…"

A strange urge nearly made Liam reply, tell him the same, but instead he needed some time to even progress this. Niall _loved_ him. He loved _Liam_. And he had just confessed it like this, while sobbing and clinging to him, still managing to cause warmth to spread in Liam's stomach, even though it turned to knots. It was horrible not to answer Niall, like, the worst thing he could do and Niall would have deserved to hear those words too, but instead, Liam buried his face in Niall's hair, breathing in his familiar scent to maybe calm down a little. It didn't help much, not at all actually.

Liam missed the perfect time to answer, he didn't say anything for a long time, just staying like this for a while, Niall had his arm around Liam's waist as well, holding on so tightly it nearly hurt, but Liam didn't even think of saying anything, he rocked Niall slightly in his arms, praying that the sobs and shivers would stop soon. "Hey, babe… you should get some rest."

His voice had sounded too loud because of how long the silence had lasted but Niall cuddled even closer if that was any possible, slowly running out of tears as it seemed like. He didn't move one centimeter as Liam made sure to tug them both in properly, kissing every part of Niall's head he could reach, whispering every single thing he could think of that he loved about Niall until he could feel the boy relax in his arms, probably exhausted from all the crying and Liam prepared himself for feeling guilty the whole night and not sleeping for even one minute. Besides, holding Niall in his arms and making sure he was okay was way more important than Liam getting some rest anyway.

Nothing could ever be more important than Niall. They really did fit together perfectly, none of them had had a lot of luck with their families and they both could need someone to be there, Niall especially. Liam felt like a monster for making the other boy wait, making him cry like this even after this had probably been the first time he had told somebody something intimate like this. It's just, what if they wouldn't be able to work this out, what if Niall changed his mind again? There had been enough rejection in Liam's life already, he wouldn't survive losing Niall, god he already needed the boy more than he should have.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a new chapter, I know it sucks to wait. So there's only one left and I'm not sure when I'm gonna update but it won't be too late, also there will be a slight time jump, just to warn you guys (and smut, but like, cute smut).

The next few weeks were really hard on Liam.

First of all, Louis gave them a hard time because he was still pissed at Niall even after both Harry and Liam talked to him. So that complicated lunch break a little bit at first, he calmed down eventually, after Niall had nearly started crying over some not so nice side comment and Liam had quickly taken him to an empty classroom so no one would see, letting him sob in his arms.

Secondly, his own relationship with Niall got more complicated than he would've ever thought was possible. After that kiss, Niall got even more affectionate, and the problem was, Liam loved it. For example one time when they were at the mall, where everyone could've seen it, they somehow ended up holding hands and it took some time for him to realize that this was not how they acted in public usually.

"What are you doing?" Liam had questioned after realizing that Niall was not going to let him go, he just shrugged his shoulders at the question.

"I don't know, I thought you were doing it." Which obviously couldn't be true since Liam was always trying to be careful, so he wouldn't startle Niall, and especially in public in respect of Niall's friends being assholes. After Niall had confessed that he had lied, they had first of all avoided him for a few days, as if he didn't have the whole school to hang out with anyway, but it was getting better now, even though Liam sometimes felt like dealing with their death glares was a bit much. And adding up to that, Niall spent most of his time with Liam now anyway, which caused more rumors to spark than they would've liked. Especially since some of them were more than true.

"I wasn't, I thought _you_ were doing it." Of course Niall was, someone had had to start this after all, they could't be magically holding hands.

"Well, everyone's talking about us already anyway for Christ's sake." So they ended up not letting go at all, sure, this was nice but it got Liam feeling guilty all over again.

On the last day of school before Easter break, Niall obviously had gotten reckless, he scared the hell out of Liam by sneaking up behind him, half jumping on his back. In the middle of the hallway. "Jesus, Niall, what's going on with you today?"

"Nothing." Niall giggled into his ear as he slipped off again, holding onto Liam's wrist while grinning at him brightly, not caring where they were. Staring into his face, Liam came to the conclusion that Niall must've spent extra time to figure out what he should wear today and do with his hair, Liam almost couldn't focus on anything besides his urge to kiss every centimeter of Niall's face. "Did you think about it?"

"Well… I'm not sure yet." Liam shifted slightly, slowly pulling his hand away from Niall to wrap his arm around his waist instead and pull him closer, leaning against some lockers behind him. It was actually no wonder people constantly asked Niall whether they were dating. "I'd only be a bother for you after all."

"No, you wouldn't." It sounded pretty convinced, Niall was pouting slightly, leaning more into Liam and resting a hand on his hip. "I don't wanna waste any time we could spend together."

"We'll see each other tomorrow. And the whole break through." Yeah, Liam sounded as if he was trying to calm Niall down when in reality he wished they'd be together this night as well.

Even though Niall spent less and less time with any other people besides Liam, Zayn and the other two, he was still friendly with most of the people from school. So since he hadn't had a party after the one time he had ditched it to come to Liam's house, he'd have one tonight. Which was completely fine yet Niall had still apologized to Liam ten times, telling him that the only reason he did it was because he had promised and his other friends had been bugging him about how he didn't spend any time with them anymore. Not being able to take any sort of criticism lightly or wanting to break his promise, Niall couldn't really get out of this and even though Liam was fine with it, Niall somehow wasn't at all. "But I wanna see you _today_."

"Me too, Ni, I just… nothing against your parties, it's just, I don't like them. And I'm most likely to just wait in your room and then you'll feel like you have to join me and you'll miss out." This wouldn't be fair anyway, the whole purpose of this was Niall spending time with his other friends instead. 

"But I want you to come." Liam's heart was melting when he looked into Niall's puppy eyes, immediately starting to smile and pulling the boy even closer to him. "Harry and Louis are coming too, I asked them before."

"What about Zayn?" The only reason for Liam asking was so he wouldn't have to make Niall sad again by telling him that he would most likely not show up tonight, instead he watched the clock for a bit before deciding they should probably get going.

"Perrie's parents are gone, no chance you'll get him out of this house." Right, that was what Liam had been trying not to think about, he softly pulled Niall with him, moving his arm up around his shoulders as they were walking to english class. "So?"

"I'm sorry, babe, I really… I really don't think I should come." Maybe to make up a little bit for disappointing him, Liam quickly looked around to make sure no one was watching them before kissing the side of Niall's head, causing him to lean closer but sigh at the same time.

"Fine. I'll pick you up tomorrow morning and you better take that one hoodie with you because I feel like I wanna steal it." Yeah, Liam would definitely do that, Niall had spent the whole last weekend at his house and when he had put Liam's favorite hoodie on, it had ended with Liam feeling the urge to cuddle him all day long. Which he had, because damn, cuddling with Niall the whole day long and not moving was the best thing in the whole world.

"I feel like I want you to steal it as well." And since no one was around and they'd probably be late for class anyway, Liam stopped to wrap his other arm around Niall as well, squeezing him tightly and kissing his cheek until he started squirming a bit and both of them were laughing. God, Liam was so far gone for this boy.

———

Somehow Liam regretted not coming to the party after all. Partly because of how sad Niall's face had gotten after he had dropped Liam off at home, he did that almost every day now, usually he also stayed, just today, Liam was all alone and he wasn't really used to it anymore.

At first, he really tried not to think about what could happen at the party, like, if Niall got drunk or so, not that it was any of Liam's business since they weren't… dating or anything, Niall could basically do whatever he wanted. Not that Liam was thinking he'd just go and like… have sex with somebody or anything, he had promised he wouldn't do that anymore since he had Liam and Liam trusted Niall and it's not like he was jealous, he just didn't want Niall to feel any of the things he used to or get hurt, that was all, really.

Still, the second he heard his doorbell ringing at about nine at night, Liam still couldn't help his heart speeding up as he hoped it'd be Niall telling him that he had changed his mind about the party. Sadly, it wasn't. 

"Um, what exactly are you guys doing here?" Harry and Louis looked way too happy to find Liam in sweatpants while they looked way too much as if they were about go to a party. Well, they kinda were, or so Liam had thought at least, them showing up here didn't make any sense at all.

"We're picking you up for the party, come on, get changed." They were holding hands again and Harry was leaning against Louis, a thing that Liam probably would've gotten a bit jealous over quite some time ago. But nothing those two did was different to how Liam and Niall acted towards each other, minus the kissing part and the on lap sitting, but besides that…

"I won't go to the party." This was more than confusing, a little bit tempting, but a stupid idea nevertheless.

"Why not? Niall wants you there too." As if he didn't know that, Liam rolled his eyes at Harry, leaning against the doorframe while trying to think of an answer that would not make him look either stupid or obsessed with their blonde school mate.

"I don't like parties, not even Niall's. And I'm gonna see him tomorrow anyway, we can last without each other for a night." Could they, though? Because the longer Liam thought about it, he had slept more often with Niall in a bed during the couple last weeks than he had alone.

"Is that why you're moving to his house for the whole break?" Maybe Liam shouldn't have told them, but they had been bugging him without a break about if he really planned on staying home all alone and they'd have to hang out and whatnot. So Liam had just blurted it out a few days ago, causing their eyes to nearly fall out. Well, it wasn't really a secret how well him and Niall got along anyway.

"What has that got to do with anything, I told you already that I won't go. Niall knows that too, he doesn't expect me to come." There was nothing there for Liam to do anyway, he didn't want to interrupt when Niall was hanging out with his friends and staying with Harry and Louis all by yourself was never really a good option.

"Well, maybe he doesn't expect you to, but he sure as hell has whined enough about it before on the phone." Louis had probably made that up, but then again… maybe he hadn't and it made Liam lower his eyes quickly, trying not to let it show that he was actually thinking about going. "So come on now, unless you wanna go in sweatpants, which Niall probably wouldn't mind, but it'd be pretty embarrassing for us if you show up like that."

"Yeah, that's totally gonna change my mind, Lou, you're so funny." Harry was laughing of course, he always was when Louis said a word that could maybe be remotely funny in ten million years. Or not.

"God, Li, don't be so boring. The last time you went to a party with me you found the love of your life, so stop being stubborn and come on." At first, Liam didn't really know whether to just smash the door shut or tell Harry that Niall wasn't the love of his life, in the end, he didn't do or say any of those things because, well… he did like Niall a lot, maybe he WAS the love of his life, who knew.

"Why do you want me to come so desperately?" After Harry had just pushed past him, almost violently pulling him towards the stairs by his wrist, Liam had given up on trying to talk himself out of it. They wouldn't leave unless he gave in and somehow he was kinda relieved that the choice about going or not wasn't up to him anymore. Because somehow Liam tended to go for the wrong direction.

"It'll make Niall happy and we're tired of you not making a move on him, the sexual frustration between the two of you is giving me chest pains." Something Liam had never wanted to hear, before he could turn around and glare at Louis though, he had already changed the topic. "Your bed is really small, now I know why you're staying at Niall's house and not the other way around."

"Can you say one sentence without mentioning him?" Truth was, all those sexual comments made Liam nervous, he had never even properly kissed anybody, it would go a bit far to talk about having sex with Niall. "Haz, what're you doing?!"

Meanwhile Liam had tried to not slap Louis as he had chuckled, Harry had used the chance to go through Liam's closet shamelessly, throwing some jeans and a shirt at him a few seconds later without answering, he sounded pretty strict too. "Put that on, we're running late." 

So Liam did, he complained a bit more since he felt like an idiot because they had convinced him this easily and also because he knew that this was probably gonna be really strange. Plus, Niall wouldn't really be excited if he found out that him begging Liam for days to come to the party hadn't made him change his mind yet Louis and Harry trying one time had. The situation had just been different, that was all, and Liam kinda didn't have a good feeling thinking about the party, that was the only reason why he sat in the back of Louis' car fifteen minutes later. 

Like expected, they couldn't even stop touching each other for a small drive, they were holding hands the whole time, which made Liam a bit nervous because damn, what if that distracted Louis and he'd crush into something? He nearly made a comment about it, already having his mouth open as he remembered how much he was always distracting Niall while he was driving so maybe Liam wasn't exactly in a position to judge.

"I already regret this." Standing in front of the massive house was not what caused Liam's stomach to tie into knots, he had been here far too often lately, it was just, seeing it filled with so many people was like reliving the first time he had come here. And yeah, him and Niall were friends now because of that, but that didn't make the memory any less weird.

"You won't anymore once we found your boy." Again, Liam was just being laughed at for blushing slightly, being here after all was somehow making him nervous, like, his hate for parties hadn't passed in any way.

"He's not my boy…" But he could've easily been, just like that, Liam would have only had to say one word and Niall would be with him, sometimes being aware of that was slightly scaring. Knowing some day Niall might not be waiting anymore for Liam to get his shit together was even worse, but what could he have done, that's just who he was. Complicated and overly worried.

"Well, he's more yours than he is anyone else's, so that's close enough. Stop wasting time now and come on." Giving up, Liam took a few breaths before following Louis and Harry, being around all those people was kinda like suffocating and that was really the last thing he needed right now.

They looked for Niall for a while, not really finding him, which wasn't surprising at all because of the amount of people, Liam tried texting him too but it kinda made sense that he didn't get anything back. 

Finally, after Liam had told Harry and Louis that he'd go upstairs and look there, alone, he found some of Niall's friends, the ones that Niall had talked to that day in school, when Liam had been listening. A second long, he was nearly relieved, even though they kinda glared at him for a bit, but he kinda expected Niall to pop up somewhere between them, it's just… he never did.

Immediately, Liam felt his stomach drop as he turned on his heels, accidentally pushing a few people as he went for the door that would lead to the stairs up to Niall's room, which was, of course, locked. Shit, what if Niall was up there? He wouldn't even hear Liam if he knocked. 

Checking a few more other rooms, Liam was almost about a hundred percent sure that Niall had locked himself up into his room, not even attending his own party, nothing new, but still, why hadn't he texted Liam then? Or called? 

There was still that room left where Niall had taken Liam to have a 'drink' with him, a place Liam had purposely been trying to avoid, but since he was desperate now after trying to call Niall, he finally got himself together. There was nothing in there anyway, besides, he didn't have to be such a pussy, that had happened months ago already. 

So Liam pressed the handle down and then suddenly, everything fell into place.

It felt like being in a bad movie, the way Liam scanned the room for a second, almost dropping his phone that he had still been holding at the sight in front of him.

There, exactly on the couch that Niall had been trying to shove his hand down Liam's pants, he was lying on top of some girl that Liam didn't know and never ever wanted to either. They were snogging, heavily, fully dressed, not that it actually mattered because literally NOTHING in the world could've made this any worse.

"What the _fuck_?!" Suddenly it hit Liam, the second he met Niall's eyes and saw how swollen his lips were, he didn't want anyone else to have Niall, ever, he wanted to be the only one. And knowing that Niall had been waiting for him to make a decision all along, being sure that he could have him any time he wanted him, had made Liam blind to the truth. Of course he was in love with him. Of course he wanted to be with him and make him happy. So why could he only see that when it seemed to be too late?

"L-Liam?!" The tone of Niall's voice made it clear that he had had alcohol, that was the only good aspect, he hadn't done this sober. But he had still done it and it brought tears to Liam's eyes, he had told him he LOVED him, he had promised he'd never do things like that again, didn't that count anymore?! "Li, no, no, I didn't… this is not what you think, I-I… "

"Of course it is what I think, I'm not fucking blind!" It was mostly the shock that made Liam yell, and the disappointment, he knew he wasn't allowed to be truly angry, he had let Niall suffer all this time, just because he had been too stupid to admit it to himself.

Niall had gotten up now, completely ignoring the girl sitting up, she seemed to be wasted as well, just watching the scene in front of her with a confused face. "Liam, please, I… I only want you, you know that, I didn't… I didn't mean to, I was just, I was…"

If he hadn't been stumbling because of the fact that he was drunk, or tearing up heavily, Liam would've pushed Niall off hard when he grabbed his hands. Instead he just stood there, looking at Niall and trying not to throw up as the picture of him on top of that girl popped up again. "Why did you do that, Niall? You told me you loved me!"

"I do! I love you, Liam, I fucking love you more than anything else, I just missed you and I was _frustrated_ because you weren't here and I would've waited forever for you, really, I still would, I …" He was full on crying, nearly pleading Liam as he stared up at him, grabbing way too tightly at his wrists, but Liam felt too numb to feel it. There was nothing he could think of saying, he couldn't yell at Niall, or be mad at him, he had no single right to. 

"How much did you drink?" It was really hard to force his voice to sound calm, hold those tears back and make sure that Niall was alright instead of bombing him with more questions that would only cause him to cry even harder, he looked really done already. Well, Liam was too, but there was nothing he could do about Niall kissing other people besides him, it was his fault if anyone's, if he had kissed Niall back properly, he wouldn't have gone to someone else.

"Just a bit… " Probably a lot more than that, but Niall hiccuped and sniffed loudly, suddenly letting go of Liam's hands to wrap his arms around his middle unexpectedly, crying into his shirt instead. "I wished it was you the whole time… I j-just… felt so bad b-because you d-didn't want me a-and I… I'm always h-hoping you'll c-change your mind, but… please don't go n-now, L-Liam… please, I-I love you, don't leave m-me, I'm s-so sorry!"

That was it, Liam gave up with a sigh, slowly pushing Niall back instead of wrapping his arms around him as well, cupping his face with one hand, pushing the messy hair out of his forehead with the other. He couldn't be mad, not even disappointed or sad, he had caused this by himself. "I'm not leaving you, babe, it's alright. We'll get you to bed, okay?"

"Are you m-mad?" Niall sniffed, grabbing at Liam again as if he was scared he'd just disappear any second if he didn't.

Yes, Liam was, more than that, but he shook his head anyway, he wasn't mad at Niall, he was mad at himself. "No, I just want you to be okay. And I'm sorry I made you feel so bad, Nialler, we'll talk about this when you're sober again, alright?"

Though Niall nodded, he didn't really look as if he really understood everything Liam had said and it was pretty clear that they'd need forever to his room if Niall would attempt to walk himself.

So Liam quickly pecked his forehead before getting down a bit and easily lifting Niall into his arms bridal style, making the other boy panic for a second, but at least he put his arms around Liam's neck, holding on tightly. "It's okay, I got you, Niall, I'm not gonna let you fall."

Checking for the girl quickly that had passed out on the couch somewhere in between their conversation, Liam was still relieved to hear her snoring quietly, he kinda hated whoever that was but when Niall snuggled his head into his shoulder, the anger kinda disappeared. 

It wasn't hard to carry Niall at all, he was really light and smaller than Liam too, the only real challenge was getting the key to lock up the door to the other stairs. He had to put Niall down for that, getting a bit of complainant for that because Niall had gotten really tired, he just leaned against Liam, refusing to stop hugging his waist afterwards, so it took them even longer to finally get upstairs.

"Ni, I'll put you down now, okay? Can you stand?" Due to the tiredness and the alcohol he had consumed earlier, Liam was really worried when he carefully put Niall onto his feet once they were in his room. Being here now after all was a relief for Liam, despite what had just happened before, he was more than thankful for Harry and Louis dragging him here. God knows what would've happened if he hadn't bursted into the room.

"Nooo, I wanna… " Another hiccup, he still hadn't gotten rid of them and Liam thought he'd have to die every time. Drunk Niall was maybe a bit hard work, but other than that he was also bloody cute and cuddly, just like right the second Liam put him down, Niall had already wrapped his arms around him again, leaning against him with almost all his weight. "…cuddle with you, I'm so tired…"

"I know you are, babe, but you'll regret sleeping in those jeans, come here." He tried his best to support Niall, keeping his arms around his waist as he walked him over to the bed where Niall had luckily carelessly thrown his sweatpants this morning. "You think you can change your clothes? Or do I have to do that?"

Seeing as Niall couldn't do anything right now besides holding Liam, with one fist clenched into his shirt, and rubbing his eyes with his knuckles like a child, that question probably was a bit unnecessary. Maybe that's why Liam got no answer, just a sleepy look and a giggle when he kissed Niall's nose. It was so hard to resist him, even now, they still had to talk about this in the morning, but that didn't mean that Liam could just block his new realization out.

"Alright then…" Undressing Niall was not the hardest part about this, but getting him to put his sweatpants on was about a hundred times more difficult, Liam nearly thought about just putting him to bed in only boxers but he knew how cold Niall always got. So in the end, he made Niall lie on the mattress, doing it this way to reduce the danger of letting him fall, even though he had to fight quite hard to get the boy to lift his hips, constantly giggling unnecessarily in between. "You really need to sleep, Niall, close your eyes, you're fine now."

"No, Liam… " He hiccuped again, grabbing Liam's wrist with a panicked expression on his face after Liam had tugged him in, slowly sitting on the edge of the bed. "D-Don't go…"

"Shsh, I'm not, I'm right here." Since this didn't calm Niall at all, Liam gently pulled his hand out of the boy's grip to lean over him instead, looking at his flushed cheeks and his widened eyes for a second before placing a loving kiss on the slightly sticky forehead. "I'm sorry, Nialler, for yelling at you before. And you'll probably not even remember this tomorrow, but I promise everything will be okay now, just close your eyes, yeah? I'm here."

Niall sniffed a few more times, he looked really exhausted but he still snuggled into Liam's hand when he placed it against Niall's cheek, putting his own hand over it. "Lie down with me, Li… can't sleep without you…"

Actually Liam had planned to stay here and stare at Niall, make sure he was okay and didn't have any nightmares or anything, but seeing his red face and hearing him almost pleading didn't leave much options. "Of course, hang on."

Luckily Liam had been here a few times (too often), or he wouldn't have found the light switcher, leaving only the lamp on Niall's bedside table on and causing the smaller boy to whine a bit about him taking so long. "Liii… it's cold without you…"

"I'm already there, Ni." The cuteness overload was nearly unbearable for Liam, he couldn't believe how much he loved Niall when he climbed over him carefully, not really being able to move because Niall had already grabbed his arm again, pulling himself closer until he was almost on top of Liam. "Okay, close your eyes now, I promise I'll still be there when you wake up."

"I love you." Niall blurted out just as Liam was readjusting the blanket, wrapping both his arms around the other boy afterwards, quite enjoying to have his soft hair tickling his neck and chin.

"I know, baby." Usually, that was even worse than not replying anything at all, it's just that Niall wasn't sober and Liam nearly said it back, because hell, he did love this boy, but then he decided to wait, for the perfect moment, when Niall wasn't pissed drunk anymore and would actually be able to remember it.

For now, Niall just sighed contently as Liam started playing with his hair again, snuggling deeper into the crook of his neck and falling asleep probably not even five minutes later.

———

The heavy rain outside was what woke Liam up, it wasn't really that bad and the bed was so comfortable, he nearly went right back to sleep before suddenly remembering what had happened last night.

Cracking an eye open, he was immediately staring into blue ones, suddenly becoming aware of everything else happening around him. Niall's fingers in his hair, their legs still intertwined, and the tired, shy smile playing around the other boy's lips when he saw that Liam was awake. "Hey…"

They were buried underneath the covers, Niall's hair all messed up from sleeping but he looked like an angel like this, pink lips, cuddling a pillow to his face while letting his fingers dance across Liam's cheek lightly. "Good morning, babe."

Liam couldn't help but blindly search for Niall's body under the blanket, wrapping his arm around the tiny waist and pulling him in closer. It was warm under the covers, but having Niall there was like going to bed with a heater, which was perfect right now, the rain outside while they were both in here, snuggling in bed, not having to be anywhere. It was perfect until Niall brought up the one thing that got Liam back to reality within a second. "Can we talk about last night?"

It had sounded quite unsure, Niall's hand dropped from Liam's face, resting against his free arm instead. His cheeks turned pink really quickly, and then came the lip biting like Liam had already expected, he could've written a book on Niall's behavior by now, but instead, he placed a kiss on the boy's nose like last night. "I know that you were drunk, Ni. And that it didn't mean anything, you don't have to explain it to me, you did nothing wrong."

"I did. I kissed her even though I love you and I don't want you to think that just because you asked me to give you time to think that I'm gonna go and snog other people. All I want is you and I'm gonna wait, I won't have any parties anymore and I won't kiss other people anymore or do anything else with them. You're the only one for me and the first and last one I wanna feel this way about, I never knew what it's like to fall in love but I… I fell pretty hard for you." When he was finished, Liam's heart was melting and he tried his best not to smile stupidly to himself because Niall still sounded broken, hurt, he had every right to, because what Liam was doing was more than unfair. So he decided right then and there that he'd end this, because it felt so good, to look at Niall and knowing that this was the guy he was in love with, allowing himself to admit it.

"You don't have to wait." Liam started, knowing that Niall had no clue what he was going to say, the anticipation was going to make him go insane, he wanted to kiss him _so badly_.

"But I will always wait." It nearly sounded as if Niall was pouting and Liam couldn't help it anymore but let out a quiet laugh, getting a very confused and hurt look that quickly was exchanged with confusion when he pulled Niall even closer to him, their chest pressing together now. "That's not funny, Liam."

"You're right, it's not. Wanna know a secret?" The words made Niall roll his eyes but also caused him to blush slightly, Liam had chosen them on purpose because he simply couldn't stay in a serious mood anymore.

"What?" Niall tried to sound annoyed but when Liam propped himself up a little bit, bringing his lips to Niall's ear, the boy jumped slightly. "Liam-"

"I love you." And just like that, Liam caught Niall's lips in a kiss, it was only fair since Niall had done this twice before, only this time, he was the one freezing in shock, slightly parting his lips in surprise and letting out a gasp. Not that that bothered Liam in any way, as soon as he felt Niall's hand cupping the back of his neck to pull him closer, putting all he had into the kiss, Liam couldn't help but smile against his lips.

Because of Liam's lack of experience with kissing and everything surrounding that topic, it was Niall who took the initiative and pulled Liam completely on top of him before gently nudging his mouth open, grasping onto his biceps with his free hand.

Nothing could live up to what it felt like to have Niall's tongue exploring his mouth, moving against his slowly, obviously trying to show Liam what to do, so he tried to copy whatever Niall did to him that felt amazing. Which was hard because simply all of this felt so new and tingly and overwhelming, Liam went with his feeling then, doing whatever felt right, pretty proud of himself when he heard Niall sigh and kiss him back even more eagerly.

They quickly turned this a lot more heated, Niall's hand moved up into Liam's hair, pulling and gripping it as if it was the only thing holding him alive, and the way he dug his fingernails into Liam's arm would've hurt if he hadn't been numb to everything that wasn't Niall's mouth. He made sure to touch back, which was a bit hard because he was trying not to crush Niall by keeping his weight on his elbows, but Liam simply wouldn't have been able to resist touching Niall's face, feeling the heated skin of his cheeks underneath his fingertips.

As they pulled apart just enough for both of them to catch some breath, Liam pressed his forehead against Niall's, keeping his eyes closed and not even attempting to move away one single centimeter. Niall's chest moved heavily against his, their breath mixing because both of them were suffering from a lack of oxygen, it was simply perfect for Liam. He could've had this so much sooner.

"I…" Niall had to take another deep breath before carrying on, wrapping his other arm around Liam's neck as well. "I love you too. Oh god.. I can't believe this just happened, I never… I never kissed anybody like this."

"Me neither." Liam joked, slowly opening his eyes to see Niall smiling like a fool, immediately infecting him. How had he managed to wait so long until making Niall this extremely happy, they were perfect for each other and Liam only realized this now. "You're amazing, Nialler."

"Kiss me again." So Liam did, more slowly this time, and much shorter but also sweeter, it caused goose bumps to rise all the way up his arms and when they looked at each other afterwards, Niall suddenly started breaking out into a fist of giggles. "Sorry, I just… I can't believe this." 

"It's alright, babe, You have no idea how cute you are right now." Which was true, Liam couldn't help but smile lovingly at the boy lying underneath him, swollen lips and dimples showing as he tried to calm down without much success. "I'm so sorry it took me so long to figure this out, Ni, I loved you all the time, I just… last night I realized that I wouldn't be able to see you with anybody else, I wanna be the one that makes you happy and makes sure you'll never be lonely again, I want you to be mine."

This made Niall get a little bit more serious, but the smile stayed, he was playing with Liam's hair softly, staring at him as if he was the greatest thing that had ever happened. "I am all yours."

"Good." They sealed it with another kiss and Niall gently pushed against Liam's shoulder then, making them roll over so that he could be on top of Liam instead. This was nearly better than before, Liam could cup the boy's face, touching the soft skin all he wanted now and without it getting weird. He had had thoughts like this all along, he had just been too scared to let them consume him. "I should take you on a date."

This made Niall rise an eyebrow for a second before he leaned down to peck Liam's lips once more, snuggling his head in between the other boy's shoulder and neck, slowly drawing patterns on his chest as Liam moved to wrap his arms around Niall tightly. "You know… I've already been thinking about this and I… I kinda made a few plans."

"You did?" Liam wasn't sure but he thought he could feel Niall's cheek getting a little hotter against is neck, he really was the cutest thing, if he had ever asked Liam on a date before last night, he for sure wouldn't have been able to not fall for him completely. 

"Um, yeah… we can do that tonight. If you want to, I mean." Hell, there was nothing Liam wanted more. "Or some other time, I mean… we have plenty of time…"

"Niall, of course I wanna do it, like no matter what it is, I get to spend time with you and that's really all I want." Niall sat up at this, straddling Liam's waist as he sat on top of him and making Liam's arms slip. His face was still a bit blushed but he was smiling shyly now, biting into his bottom lip as he reached out to intertwine Liam's hands with his. 

"It's not a real date thing… I just … imagined it'd be nice doing it with you, that's all." Liam was a hundred percent positive that even though Niall was so shy talking about it while squishing his fingers too tightly, he'd like everything they did together. They had done plenty of that during the past few weeks, like, going to the movies and eating out and if you counted all that, they've been on hundreds of dates without calling it anything.

"I'm sure I'll love it. I love everything with you." And that finally made Niall smile again, the most gorgeous smile that Liam had ever seen on a person and he felt his stomach twitch in excitement as Niall leaned down again, not letting go of Liam's hands though and just holding them pressed into the pillow besides his head, kissing him deeply. "Hm, I feel like we won't get out of this bed for the next ten days."

That had Niall laugh a bit unexpectedly, he kissed Liam's cheek softly before sitting up again, grinning cheekily. "If I didn't know better I'd say that that was the first naughty comment you've ever made."

Liam's eyes widened when he realized what Niall must've been thinking of and he felt his cheeks heating up as he hurried to explain it. "I-I… I didn't mean it like that… I meant it in a, we stay here and cuddle, way, you know, I, um…"

As if Liam would ever think of anything like that, for god's sake, he had had his first _real_ kiss just a few minutes ago and sure, admitting that in front of Niall was a little bit embarrassing, so he looked down, trying to think of something that wouldn't make him blush as hell. Niall pulled his hands back then, moving again but Liam tried his hardest to not meet his eyes, even as he felt a pair of soft lips pressed against his temple and a hand playing with the hair behind his ear. "Hey, Liam… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. We'll never do anything you don't want, I promise, you just have to tell me to stop if I ever get carried away and I will stop immediately, okay? You mean so much to me, I don't care about anything else if I can just be with you."

His voice had sounded all soft as he said that and Liam felt himself relax a little bit, carefully grabbing a hold of Niall's hips again and trying not think about all the stuff Niall had done with other people before. Not that he was jealous or mad, it just made him hyper aware of his own lack of experience, what if he sucked at like… anything sexual? "I know… I know you wouldn't do anything, I trust you. I just… I don't wanna be bad at anything, I guess… I've never, um…"

"I know." Right, Niall knew, but he didn't say it in a way as if he was looking down at Liam for it, actually when their eyes finally met, Niall looked a bit sad, focusing on brushing some hair out of Liam's forehead. "I wish I hadn't done anything either. And that you could be my first time, but Liam… it would be different from anything else I have done as well, because usually I've been drunk and there haven't been any feelings involved, so don't be nervous, okay? We'll wait for as long as you need and I'll promise I'll make it the best it could possibly be. You deserve it." 

"Thanks, Ni…" This had made it a little bit better, Niall smiled encouragingly before pecking Liam's lips, moving around a bit until he was curled up by Liam's side again, Liam's arm around his shoulder. 

"You know, I'm quite in favor of your idea to stay here and cuddle for ten days straight." As if to prove a point, Niall pulled the blanket over them again, it hadn't really been cold since it had fallen off because Niall was just naturally warm, but it definitely got even more comfortable this way.

"I would've never guessed that." Liam chuckled fondly as Niall tried snuggling even tighter into his side, with one arm around Liam's stomach and almost purring at every touch or kiss against his skin.

 

A whole day long Niall avoided telling Liam what he really wanted to do that night, they stayed in bed kissing and cuddling and simply talking for another two hours before having breakfast with Niall standing up halfway through to sit on Liam's lap as if he did it every day. And really, Liam wouldn't have minded that.

Since he had come here without packing anything last night, they had to drive over to his flat and get his stuff. Niall was more of a distraction than a help, he insisted on kissing Liam every five seconds, hanging all over him until they eventually ended up laughing while lying on Liam's bedroom floor, the packing process long forgotten.

So when it got dark outside, Liam couldn't hold his curiosity in anymore, he gently nudged Niall because the boy was about to doze off on his shoulder after they had watched a movie, of course purely so they'd have an excuse to cuddle some more.

Niall had groaned a little bit, quite blushed too as he told Liam to put on some sweatpants and wait upstairs in his room because he had to get something. The part with the sweatpants didn't really make that much sense to Liam, but of course he did it anyway, smiling to himself when he sat on Niall's bed waiting for him to return. 

"Close your eyes, Li." Before the blonde boy had even entered the room, Liam tried his best to do what he had been told, quite nervous about not seeing anything, but it was _Niall_ , so of course he'd do it without asking questions. "Okay, no opening them until I tell you, alright?"

"Alright. What's this about, Ni?" Liam never got an answer to this, he did hear Niall moving around for a bit, touching the light switcher and cursing quietly because of the darkness which caused Liam to crack a little smile. 

When he felt Niall unexpectedly intertwining their fingers and pressing a soft kiss to his lips, he nearly fell off the bed, so far, this hadn't gone very romantic even though Niall's cute giggle had been worth it. "Okay, stand up slowly, yeah? I'm not gonna let you go, nothing can happen, just don't peek, alright?"

"Yeah, okay…" Not very sure of this, Liam still tried keeping his balance, with only one hand too since Niall was holding the other, very relieved when he was standing on his feet again without the wobbly bed underneath him, carefully following Niall's gentle pull.

"Wait, you have to step over something, I forgot to move this away." Of course, Liam thought while smirking, Niall never really cleaned up the floor of his room, which made it very different from the rest of the house, but it was familiar by now, Liam liked to know about Niall's slightly messy side.

At first, they could've really been doing anything at all, it's just when Liam heard Niall open something just so he could be hit by night air, he wasn't really sure anymore what to think about this, he had never gone through the door in Niall's room that led outside. "Are you gonna push me off the roof top?"

"Not yet, Liam, I first have to seduce you and drink your blood, jesus, you're uneducated." That made Liam chuckle a bit, he could nearly see Niall rolling his eyes at this, gripping his hand a little tighter.

"I'm afraid you've watched too many movies, babe." They were definitely on the roof now, it was colder than before, not freezing, but at least Liam's fingers were all warm from Niall's. "Can I look yet?"

"In a few seconds, come on, there's nothing on the ground and I'm not letting you fall, you don't have to be so careful." Even though Liam kinda doubted that Niall would be able to hold him in case he fell, he trusted him, nearly walking normal until Niall suddenly stopped both of them automatically, taking an almost inaudible breath, as if he was really nervous about this. "Okay, open your eyes."

At first, Liam had to blink a few times to get used to the few lights that were fixed on the roof and also the reason as to why Niall's house always looked so creepy from further away at night. So that was not what had been the surprise of course, but Liam's jaw kinda dropped a little at the other sight. "You've got a fucking _trampoline_ on your roof? How come I've never seen it before, I…"

"It's around the corner, that's why, you can't see it from the front of the house and you'd only see it from my room if you stepped out on the roof." Right, this made sense, Liam turned around a little to see where they had come from, the way hadn't been as far as it felt like when going it completely blind. "Well anyway, it's not for jumping, I mean, even I know that would't be very romantic, but you know, um… I like to lie on it sometimes, at night if I can't sleep or wanna think, usually it's a little bit warmer than today so that's why there's a blanket and pillows on there, but… I've never taken anyone out here, it's kinda… my place if I need comfort, you know? I've had it since I was a child."

Liam was studying Niall's profile while he explained, sounding rather nervous too, for which there was no reason at all, Liam felt his heart swelling at Niall's words. He was so grateful that the other boy trusted him with things like that and he couldn't help but pull his hand away to wrap his arms around Niall instead, slightly making him jump. "Thanks for taking me here, Ni… I didn't know you're this romantic, looking at the stars at night and all." Even though he chuckled against Niall's forehead as he pressed his lips against it, Liam really did mean it, this was way better than anything he could've come up with by himself.

"Oh, shush, of course I'm romantic, I even brought chocolate." Niall rolled his eyes, but he smiled a little bit while holding up some chocolate he had been holding without Liam noticing, looking quite proud of himself now. Well, he had every right to be. "Okay, come on, I feel like cuddling for nine hours today hasn't been remotely enough."

So they climbed on the trampoline, Liam was very relieved to see that even if you would in fact jump on it, there'd be no way you could fall off the roof, so that's why he went along when Niall tackled him softly while laughing, wrestling a little bit with him. In a soft way of course, interrupted with tons of kisses and until Liam had grabbed a hold of Niall's wrists, holding them over his head as he leaned down to brush their lips together, whispering. "I win."

"I held back, we all know that. It's just 'cause I'm a good boyfriend." For a second, nothing happened when Niall had said that, and then a smile was spreading in Liam's face as he thought about the words, leaning back a bit to get a better look at Niall's now terribly blushed face.

"Boyfriend, huh?" Just hearing that word caused more butterflies to erupt in Liam's stomach than he had thought was possible, he slowly let go of Niall to let him sit up, watching the boy he loved more than anything fighting with his words even if there was no need to. Of course they were boyfriends.

"I mean, I… should have asked you before, I just thought, um…" Niall was so busy staring at his hands, he didn't even notice Liam smiling at him comfortingly, reaching out with one hand to cup Niall's face, brushing his thumb over his cheekbone tenderly.

"I'd love to be your boyfriend. I love you, Niall." Saying those words always felt like such a huge relief, Niall slowly lifting his eyes to look at Liam probably made it even better, he just stared for a second, not really reacting to the stroking before he just flung himself onto Liam.

Luckily they were on a trampoline, so both of them falling backwards and Niall's body crashing onto Liam's hardly hurt at all, besides, they were way too happy as to notice it anyway. Not making a secret of what he wanted, Niall pressed his lips onto Liam's about ten times in a row, only stopping once he had managed to make Liam laugh underneath him, but Niall still stayed kinda serious as if he couldn't believe this was happening. "I love you too and god… I wanna be your boyfriend too, like, I've never wanted anything as badly as this, I love you so much, you don't even know."

"I think I do…" Liam mumbled after he had calmed down, staring up into Niall's face, only lit up by the light a few meters beside the trampoline. "Kiss me."

He didn't have to ask twice, Niall had already been hovering over him anyway so he just had to lean forward a little to make the last few centimeters disappear, kissing Liam hard, but still gently.

This wasn't like any other time before, Liam grabbed Niall's hips to hold their bodies tighter together, letting Niall have all the control because, well… Niall was fucking good at all of this, he just knew the perfect angles and the right pressure, continuing to kiss Liam's jaw afterwards, and then down his neck.

For a moment, Liam panicked slightly at feeling Niall nip at his skin softly, then he let his eyes fall closed again, tilting his head a bit and moving one hand into Niall's hair, involuntarily letting out a groan as he felt Niall's teeth for a second, then hot breath in the same spot when Niall talked. "Is this okay?"

"Y-Yeah… carry on…" He would just wait, for now this felt really good, Niall sucking and kissing the sensitive skin on his neck while Liam blindly searched for his hand with his free one, twisting their fingers together.

The second Niall was done with whatever he had been doing, he eyed Liam's neck almost critically, brushing his thumb over the spot slightly, it hurt a bit but Liam kinda liked it, he liked pretty much everything Niall did. "Now you're really mine and everyone can see it."

"What do you… oh." Now Liam understood, he had been so busy enjoying Niall's treatment and trying not to sigh too loudly that he hadn't gotten the purpose of this, Niall had given him a love bite. That realization made Liam's cheeks heat up immediately, he had never had anything like this, but of course the idea behind this and what Niall had said made his heart flutter.

"I've never done this before." Niall suddenly confessed, smiling and pecking Liam's lips before half moving off of him, still holding his hand as he curled into Liam's side, head on his shoulder. This seemed to be his favorite position, well, the feeling was kinda mutual. "But I wanted to try it with you, and if it'll fade then I got ten more days to practice."

"B-But… what about school then?" Sure, Liam wouldn't have minded showing everyone there that Niall was his alone to keep, and hold his hand and kiss him in the hallways and pull him into his lap during lunch break. But Liam wasn't the one who had a reputation to keep.

So that's why Niall's answer surprised him more than anything else. "Why do you think I did that? I want everyone to see it, everyone should see that I'm taken and I'm happy about to be with you, I'm not gonna hide our relationship, Liam."

"Really?" Not being able to believe it, Liam immediately grasped Niall tighter, forgetting to rub his thumb along Niall's like he had done the whole time, because wow… how'd he end up this extremely lucky? Having the most beautiful boy by his side who loved him back just as much and openly being able to brag about how proud he was that Niall only wanted him and no one else.

"Of course, Liam, I love you more than anything in this world." Niall shrugged, as if it was obvious, then he lifted his head to use the chance that Liam had already had his mouth open to say something, immediately deepening the kiss. 

"I love you too, Nialler." He whispered as soon as they pulled apart, Niall snuggling his head back down against Liam's neck, softly continuing to kiss him there, not biting or sucking this time, but it still caused all the same reactions in Liam's body. 

They stayed like this for a while, in complete silence besides a few cars driving by down on the street, Liam got the blanket after a while as he noticed some goose bumps on Niall's arms, not wanting him to get sick before going back to holding him, their hands still intertwined and Liam's cheek pressed into Niall's heavenly smelling hair. 

"What are you thinking about?" It was kind of a cliché question coming from Niall's mouth, only a whisper, as if he didn't wanna disturb the silence too much.

"I was thinking about what would have happened if we had started talking on the first day of high school, when I was sat next to you in maths." Right, that had been when Liam had decided that he needed to change seats, because he had been kind of a nerd and thought that the strange kid next to him would only be distracting him with his constant laughter and always open mouth. "You think we would've become friends? That we could have had all of this sooner?"

Niall took his time to answer, he moved a little, pressing a kiss onto Liam's chest over his heart. "I don't know… maybe. I was better at making friends when I was a freshman. But maybe it's good that it only happened now, there was no need for you to see me when I still had my braces."

It was a joke and Liam let out a quiet laugh when actually, this conversation got him really sad. They had wasted so much time, and now it was running out. "We could've had years."

"What do you mean?" Obviously Niall couldn't follow his string of thoughts because he leaned his arm against Liam's chest now to look at him, frowning a bit which made Liam use his free hand to try and smooth the other boy's forehead out.

"I just meant that high school is nearly over and… well, you're probably gonna go to college and I… will probably have to stay here." Another reason as to why he had had doubts about this relationship, why start something that you can't keep, right? Even though Liam was sure he wanted this and that they wouldn't break up even if Niall moved away or whatever else might happen, but it would be hard being away from him.

"So what? You're gonna go to college too, Liam, and I don't care whatever might happen, we'll work this out and we'll be together, don't you dare speaking of breaking up with me on the day we got together." There was slight panic in Niall's voice, he tried so hard to be serious and sound firm but it made Liam feel bad about saying anything at all, he hadn't intended for this to upset Niall.

"I'm not speaking of breaking up, babe, I will never break up with you, I'll always be here. I just meant that we could've had this without it getting complicated, like… even if I do go to college… you're gonna get into a much better one than I do." They had talked about this before, about how Niall's parents had had almost his whole future planned out for him, he practically already had a place in the same college as his brother did. One Liam would never be smart enough for in a million years.

For a second, Niall's face fell a bit and Liam nearly panicked because he was scared there might be tears, but he was stopped by Niall's firm lips against his. "You _will_ go to college, Liam, I'm gonna tutor you and then whatever else happens after high school, I don't care. I'm not gonna let you go. I'm good at being clingy, we all know that."

"You have to study for your finals too, you don't have to tutor me, you-"

"I want to, Liam, you can't talk me out of this, so stop trying." Then suddenly, a grin appeared on his face that got Liam more than confused, he was caressing Niall's cheek, somehow wishing he had never brought this topic up, but then again, somehow Niall's positivity was making him feel a bit better. "Besides, you can pay me."

"You want me to pay you for-"

"Yeah. Like this." The following kiss nearly blew Liam's mind and maybe… maybe having Niall as tutor wasn't a dumb idea at all. Maybe everything would really be okay.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finished! Thank you for all the nice comments and the kudos, it really means a lot to me and I really hope everyone will like this chapter!

—————————————— 8 months later————————————————

"Zayn, uh… can I ask you for a favor?" Liam had been planning this the whole day, but now that it was time to actually say it out loud, he was still stumbling over his words. Maybe he should've practiced a little more, or asked Niall for advice, but that would've screwed the 'surprise'.

"Sure, what is it?" Zayn barely looked up, he was writing something down that looked a lot like an assignment for his classes, something Liam probably shouldn't have disturbed him with, but he HAD to ask, they were sharing this dorm after all.

"Umm…" After a bit more shifting on his bed, trying to find a way to not make this too bad but then realizing that that wasn't possible, Liam pressed his eyes shut. "Can you leave me the room for tonight?" 

There was silence that made Liam almost hopeful that Zayn hadn't been listening, this hadn't been a good idea at all, he would just have to- "So Niall's coming today? I thought that was tomorrow, maybe I should've looked more closely at your calendar." 

Yeah, Liam had crossed out the days until he'd see Niall again, it caused him to blush slightly, but not as much as the fact that Zayn had caught on so quickly about what he planned on doing. "Yeah, he… I'll pick him up from the airport in a few hours."

"Alright then. I wanted to go out tonight anyway, I'll sleep over at someone else's place. Well, provided you two are dressed again when I come back here tomorrow." He turned around in his chair now to look at Liam, smirking a little bit as if he knew what a big deal all of this was for Liam. Sure, he and Niall had done some… stuff, 8 months was a long time, but … well, Liam was still a virgin, to put it that way, and Niall was probably the most patient person alive.

"We… we're gonna be dressed." It sounded really dumb, but what else could Liam have said? He quickly took his phone out, pretending to be texting someone when in reality, he just didn't want to see Zayn looking at him in that way anymore, it didn't help to cool him down again.

"Good. You know what I wanted to ask you? Did you ask Harry and Louis for advice a few days ago, because-"

"Please, let's not talk about this, oh my god." They had told Zayn?! Within seconds, Liam's face was as red as a tomato and Zayn was just laughing loudly, god, why did this have to be so embarrassing, he should have just told his roommate to fuck off the whole night, he sure as hell would've deserved it. "I'm gonna kill them."

"Calm down, Li, they didn't like… tell me any details. Well, they would have, but I said no. It's just, I was over at their flat and apparently Louis was texting Niall and he started laughing and asked whether he should tell him that he'd get some soon, to motivate him to study." Even worse than Liam had thought!

"Louis is so dead, I swear to god. I just asked normal stuff, alright? I'm not that clueless, I was just… trying to prepare. Can we just drop this?" By now Liam had rolled off of his bed, cleaning some of his stuff up, even though he had already done that when he hadn't been able to sleep last night because he was so excited to see Niall again. It was the end of january, so that made about 30 days of only seeing each other through webcam and talking on the phone. Sure, it hadn't been that long of a time, after Niall had flown over to Ireland after the summer break, because that's where he went to college, they hadn't seen each other for more than two months and Liam had thought he'd have to go insane. So on Christmas, when both of them had been home for about a week, Niall had randomly shown up on Liam's doorstep on Christmas morning, trying to apologize for leaving his present at home, but he never got to finish because Liam had already wrapped him up in his arms, kissing him deeply and thinking that having a pink cheeked Niall with a slightly red nose on his door step was the best present he could have ever gotten.

"Sure, mate. I wish I would've been able to save you the embarrassment of having to ask Louis and Harry, but you know… " Yeah, well, he was straight. "But I can help you finding something to wear, I guess you're gonna change?"

"Well, I think not wearing a shirt to the airport would maybe be a bit too straight forward." Liam tried to be sarcastic to overplay the fact that he was still embarrassed as hell, but Zayn just laughed anyway.

"Maybe. But don't worry, Liam, Niall loves you, I know he does. And I know it's scary, but you know… if you've been together for so long and you really trust each other, it'll be amazing." That caused Liam to blush even worse, even if this had been completely serious and he knew that Zayn was right, also knew what he was talking about, but having this conversation at all was what made Liam a little bit nervous.

 

The time just wouldn't pass by, and adding up to that, of course Liam was at the airport way too soon, because usually there was so much traffic that every bus or underground got stuck for hours, but of course, today it didn't.

Niall had texted him before getting on the plane, something like _'can't wait to see yooouu ;) hope you're wearing that tight shirt xxxxx'_ and well, Liam WAS wearing that shirt, even before he had read the text message, writing something like this sounded very much like Niall, that was not the problem, he did have a naughty mind at times but of course he couldn't know that tonight, Liam wouldn't panic and make him stop. He had done it once, on their last night before Niall would leave for Ireland and Liam would get onto a train to bring him two hours away from their hometown. They had kinda been desperate, because of having to say goodbye, so Liam had tried to convince himself that he was ready, changing his mind last second but not saying anything, he didn't wanna be a coward. Niall noticed though, and he stopped immediately, saying that it was alright and that he could wait after kissing Liam's forehead. One reason why he was so crazy about this boy, he was the sweetest person alive.

So yeah, the message added up a little bit to Liam's nervousness, but he knew that he was ready now, for quite a while, but it was hard when your boyfriend wasn't here to be able to do anything about it.

Standing at the gate and watching all the other people waiting too was a bit nerve wrecking, the plane was on time, but it still felt like forever until the first people came out and Liam thought he'd have to choke. He had missed Niall so much that it made him tear up to even think about seeing and holding him again, especially whenever he saw Louis and Harry, they went to the same college as Zayn and Liam, but they had a flat together and they were always so happy, it was hard to contain your jealousy around them.

The second that Liam saw Niall coming out, his heart nearly stopped. He was wearing those skinny jeans again, some black shirt, looking about a hundred times better than in Liam's memory, plus, his travel bag seemed to be a bit too big for staying just one week, not that Liam really thought about it. All he focused on was watching Niall's face, and the smile spreading all across it as he made eye contact with Liam, who was still frozen on the spot. 

Even though Niall's bags seemed to be a bit too heavy, he half ran over, dropping it carelessly on the ground next to Liam before throwing his arms around the other boy's neck and crashing their lips together, causing both of them to stumble backwards.

Liam immediately grabbed a tight hold of Niall's hips, kissing back just as hard, all the tingles he got whenever he felt Niall's mouth somewhere on his body seemed to have increased, like they always did after they hadn't seen each other for a while.

"God, I missed you." Was the first thing Niall whispered as they pulled apart for a second, foreheads resting against each other, both of their breaths going a bit too fast and Liam couldn't help but smile, still tearing up a little bit though, overwhelmed by his emotions. He had his Nialler back. 

"I missed you too, Ni. So fucking much." Maybe his voice nearly breaking away had been a bit too obvious because Niall pulled back a little, opening up his eyes and moving his hands to cup Liam's face, gently brushing his thumbs over the skin underneath Liam's eyes.

"Hey, what are you doing, don't cry, Li. We're together, I'm here." Yeah and that was exactly the reason for Liam's tears, he let out a strangled laugh before tightening his arms even though their bodies were pressed together already, trying to calm down as Niall got onto his tiptoes and softly kissed his forehead.

"I'm sorry, I just… it feels like forever since I've held you." It was hard to look anywhere else besides into Niall's face, not that Liam would've wanted to, he couldn't get enough of seeing those gentle, blue eyes, counting the freckles on Niall's nose and his cheek, almost leaning in to kiss every single one. And his cute dimples, and his chin, his ears and cheeks, just everywhere.

"I know, I nearly started bragging about you on the plane, but then the woman next to me fell asleep so I kept myself together." Once Niall was satisfied with wiping Liam's tears gently, he smiled softly, wrapping his arms around Liam's neck again to hug him tightly, face buried in between his neck and shoulder, it was so familiar and wonderful, Liam had to press his eyes closed to not start crying again, hugging back as tightly as he could without hurting Niall. "You smell so good, I'm never gonna move again."

That made Liam laugh quietly, pressing a kiss to the side Niall's head before inhaling as well, happy to know that this was how Niall had always smelled like, also the day he had fallen in love with him. "You too, babe, and I wouldn't mind staying like this either. Have you gotten smaller since I saw you last time?"

"Oh, be quiet, I know you love that you can carry me around, and imagine if I was taller, I wouldn't fit onto your lap so easily." Though they were joking, Niall was completely right, his lips were brushing Liam's ear suddenly, placing a soft kiss before changing the mood out of nowhere. "I love you."

Liam immediately held on tighter, lifting his head a bit from where it was buried in Niall's shoulder so he could talk more clearly. "I love you too, Nialler. More than anything."

They stayed like this for what felt like forever, neither wanting to let go, but when they finally did, Liam left moved his arm around Niall's shoulder, leaning down a bit to grab his bag before Niall could even move. It really was heavy. "What's in there? Did you bring all your stuff?"

"Well, I did bring a lot, you know I'm not really into packing, I just kinda throw everything inside ten minutes before leaving." Niall shrugged, but he was smiling as he wrapped an arm around Liam's waist, intertwining his fingers with Liam's hand around his shoulder to bring it to his mouth and softly kiss the back. "But I can carry it, if-"

"No way, it's not that heavy anyway. So, are you hungry?" The question was kinda unnecessary because Niall's stomach growled about one second later, causing Liam to laugh fondly at him and pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "Well, that's a yes."

"It always is, Liam, you know me. Besides, the food on planes is disgusting, be glad you've never been on one. And I was already preparing for it, you know, I wanted to buy something to eat on the airport but turned out my wallet was in my bag and I had already checked it in. So then I had two bucks and all I could buy was a chocolate bar. I accidentally took the wrong kind too, it was with fruit pieces or something, disgusting. But I still ate it anyway." That's what Liam had missed so much, walking with Niall tugged under his arm, as close as they could possibly be, and listening to him rambling, just telling Liam everything that he could think of, exaggerating his stories so much that his voice got all excited, Liam absolutely loved it. Because of how limited their time together was, sharing moments of their lives that everyone else would've probably found boring as hell was really important to them, like, Liam didn't want to miss out on anything that his boyfriend had been doing, and neither did Niall, no matter how random.

 

Niall had gotten on a rather late plane, mostly because he had been scared of oversleeping it otherwise because that happened quite often, so after they had gotten something to eat, staying there way too long even after they had been finished to talk and catch up, it had gotten rather late once they finally got to Liam's dorm.

His nervousness had passed once he had seen Niall at the airport, but as he watched the blonde boy looking around in his and Zayn's room since he had never been here, it slowly came crawling back. "Looks exactly like it did on webcam. It's a really nice room, like, mine's so empty and it's quite lonely sometimes without a roommate."

"I'm quite glad you don't have a roommate." Liam blurted out from his place on the bed, blushing slightly as Niall threw a grin at him over his shoulder, maybe he shouldn't have been showing his jealousy so openly. Of course he trusted Niall, but that didn't mean he would like for him to live with another guy. 

"And why would that be, hm?" Of course Niall knew, he came over with a smirk on his face, leaning down over the bed to hold Liam's chin softly while kissing him, standing up straight again afterwards, a more serious expression on his face now. "I'm quite glad it's Zayn you're staying with as well." 

That made Liam feel a little calmer, he leaned back against the wall, watching as his boyfriend started looking at his stuff again, it was actually quite funny and cute to hear Niall commenting on everything. Well, that was until he came to something Liam would've rather kept hidden from him, the photos he kept in a small box on his desk, mostly because they cheered him up whenever he didn't feel like studying at all. Once Niall had grabbed a hold of them, he leaned against the edge of the table, his expression quickly going from slightly amused to a bit more serious while Liam nearly panicked. "Um… that's, well…"

He didn't really know what to say, like, it wasn't bad or anything that he kept pictures of Niall and the two of them together and if it had been the other way around he would've found it beyond adorable, but he still blushed now, just watching Niall as he looked through the pictures, starting to smile halfway through, not saying anything until he was done. "Liam… why do you have to be so incredibly cute?"

"I… I'm not, I just… I miss you a lot, so the photos are kinda motivating to like, do work for college and stuff, you know…" Thank god he had hung off the calendar where he had made all the crosses until Niall would come here. It was kinda sad to think that as soon as their break was over in a week, he'd have to start all over again.

"Don't be embarrassed, I got so many pictures of you in my dorm too. Last time we were skyping and you weren't wearing a shirt I made a screenshot and printed it out to put it next to my bed." Wait… what?

"You… Niall!" Liam tried to sound shocked, in reality, he felt kinda proud, that Niall found him attractive enough without a shirt to keep a picture of it, he'd have to remember that.

"What? Can't I look at pictures of my sexy boyfriend?" Niall was laughing once again as Liam turned a bit more red because of what he had said, coming over to the bed slowly afterwards, a kinda thoughtful expression on his face as he looked at Liam. "Even though… just looking at is probably the wrong term."

That was it, Liam groaned rather frustrated before lying onto his stomach and burying his face in his pillow as he heard Niall laughing. Sure, Niall made dirty jokes all the time, it's just, he knew that he hadn't been lying about it this time and the reason why was because Niall wasn't the only one who had ever touched himself to photos of his boyfriend. Still, Liam wasn't THAT open about it, so he groaned against his pillow once more, hoping the topic would change soon, this was just reminding him of what he still planned on doing tonight. "Be quiet…"

"Aw, come on, Li. I'd tell you I'm just joking but I'm not, I can't help it that you're so attractive. And since we don't see each other so often, y'know…" Then there was a tiny break and the next thing Liam knew was Niall climbing on the bed as well, not hesitating before fully lying on Liam's back, with his fingers brushing through the brown hair and his lips pressed against his shoulder blade. Liam didn't move, he just waited, his breath hitching a little as Niall kissed his way to the exposed skin on the back of his neck, his free hand was at Liam's ear, touching it tenderly. "Where's Zayn, by the way?"

This wasn't just a 'by the way' question, Liam turned his head sideways now, because he didn't know how much longer he could've lasted with his face pressed into the pillow and not suffocating. "He's out and he'll only come back tomorrow."

"Really?" Niall immediately used the chance that Liam had moved, kissing at his cheek now, one hand still massaging his scalp. 

"Mhm." Hoping there wouldn't be coming any more topic related questions, Liam attempted to turn onto his back and Niall sat up for a second to give him room, coming right back to lie on Liam's chest this time, smiling widely.

"So we're all alone for the night?" If he only knew what tortures Liam had had to go through to achieve this.

"Yeah." That answer made Niall's grin even bigger, he leaned into Liam's touch as he brushed the back of his fingers over the blonde's cheek, trying to breathe normally for now. Right, they had done a lot of things before, this wasn't that much of a deal, they had seen each other naked so many times Liam had stopped even thinking about if he could get embarrassed. Which would've gotten hard, with Niall staring at him as if he was an angel.

"Good." When Niall leaned down to kiss him, Liam let his hand slip to the back of the boy's neck to keep him closer, hyper aware of Niall rubbing his side, groaning quietly when Liam bit his bottom lip softly before pulling away. "Did I tell you already how good this shirt looks on you?" 

"Only a few hundred times, don't worry." Liam's chuckle might have sounded a bit strangled when Niall moved half off of him, with one leg between Liam's and his flat hand rubbing up and down Liam's chest and stomach. God, they really hadn't seen each other in a long time. "You can remind me of it any time you feel like it, I don't mind."

That made Niall laugh, not stopping his movements, he just leaned onto his elbow to be able to look at Liam's face, pecking his lips again. "It looks really, really good on you." And again. "Like, almost as good as if you're wearing nothing." Again. "But nothing really comes close to that." And yes.

Liam couldn't take this, he stroked Niall's arm that he was leaning on before making his way up to the back of his neck, pulling his head closer. "Kiss me properly."

"I love it when you ask." Niall was probably smirking wile saying this, but Liam had closed his eyes again as he felt their breath mixing, relieved when their mouths were fitted together again, gently moving his tongue along Niall's bottom lip to beg for entrance. Somehow it felt like he had to make up for all of the days he hadn't kissed Niall, right here at this second, and even though Liam was still a bit nervous, at least kissing Niall now came all naturally, no one took the lead anymore, they had figured this all out perfectly together.

When Niall's hand was resting against Liam's lower stomach for a second he already felt a little bit hotter, gripping Niall's hair as he shoved the shirt up higher, stroking the exposed skin while they kept snogging. No matter how many times they did all of this, it still felt like fireworks exploding in Liam's head, maybe also because it had been so long, but that for sure wasn't the only reason.

His shirt got shoved up higher in no time, Niall's palm was smooth and soft, his fingers were warm against Liam's skin as he traced the outlines of his ribs, so there was no way the shivers came from the coldness.

As soon as Niall got to Liam's nipples, just gently brushing his thumb over one, he ducked down to kiss Liam's neck instead, sucking gently as Liam let out an involuntary groan, now that the lips against his were gone, there was nothing there to shut him up.

"Niall…let me take the shirt off." It was shoved up nearly to his armpits already so Niall let Liam sit up immediately and pull it over his head, his swollen lips curling into a quick smile before he pushed the brown haired boy onto his back again, continuing where he had left off. 

Because of how long they've been together, and Niall's obvious preference to leave marks and love bites on Liam, he knew his sweet spots all by heart, having Liam squirm a little bit in no time, plus the hand stroking every centimeter of skin that it could reach was probably helping a little bit with that as well. "You alright?"

It was habit for Niall to ask this, his breath was hot against the wet spot on Liam's neck, but he didn't even bother to open his eyes, just gripping his boyfriend a little tighter while nodding. "Yeah…I love you."

"Love you too, babe." Before they could say anything else, Niall had pressed their lips together again, his hand moving down so far that Liam could feel heat rising in his stomach, lightly groaning into the others mouth as he felt the pressure against his crotch. Maybe this was embarrassing as hell, but he was already getting a bit hard, the fact that Niall was constantly rubbing off against his thigh didn't really help that much with it either.

From there on, Niall made quick process with Liam's belt, it's like, he didn't even have to fumble with it anymore even though he couldn't look down to see his hand since they were still kissing, but he got it open in no time, much like the button and zipper of Liam's jeans. Not being a tease today, Niall slipped his hand into Liam's pants, making him moan the second he started palming Liam through his boxers, a bit harder when Liam desperately gripped his shoulder with his free hand.

None of this was new, the first time they had done anything, none of them had even taken their clothes off, it's just been rubbing against each other like the horny teens they had been, still sometimes were, but it had been a bit frustrating, dating for two months and not ever touching each other in ways like this.

A bit afterwards, despite Liam being scared as hell about getting naked, Niall had given him a hand job, but it had been fine because he had just put his hand down his jeans just like right now without any undressing. And by the time, they had done nearly everything apart from proper sex, which mostly was because Liam had been scared as shit about doing that last step, but he wasn't anymore and being a little bit nervous was natural, wasn't it? Besides, he was a hundred percent positive he wanted his first time to be with Niall and no one else in the world.

Liam's mouth slipped off this time as he moaned again, hyper sensitive because of how long they hadn't done anything, and even though it wasn't even skin on skin yet, he felt like he could've cum if Niall had kept this up long enough, but he stopped suddenly, attempting to sit up. "Lift your hips a bit."

"Wait, Ni…" Before Niall could move down, Liam held him by the waist, moving his hand underneath the black shirt, rubbing the soft skin he found there. "Take that off first, don't wanna be the only one half naked here."

"Oh, you're not gonna be half naked anymore for long." And then Niall laughed after winking at him, taking his shirt off and exposing his beautiful chest and stomach that Liam would have loved to shower in kisses right now, throwing it onto the floor carelessly before moving down a bit, patting Liam's hipbone. 

He did lift his hips then, shivering a bit when cold air it him, he hadn't really expected Niall to pull his boxers down as well and leave him completely exposed, half hard too because of before and nearly shivering in anticipation, staring at Niall's bare upper body and the way his chest moved whenever he breathed, his collar bones sticking out a bit in such a beautiful way, perfect for kissing. 

Which obviously was not what was in Niall's mind right now, because he was staring at Liam instead, kind of a dreamy look on his face as he caressed his boyfriend's knee absently. "God, Li, you're so beautiful. I don't even know how I lasted so long without seeing you, did you work out again?"

Actually, Liam had, but he just smiled fondly at Niall as he leaned back up from kissing his stomach, hoping that he wasn't too blushed over the compliments and the fact that Niall had noticed. "Come here."

As soon as their lips were pressed together again, Niall being back into his previous place, Liam let his hand wander over Niall's back gently, amazed by how smooth and warm his skin was, completely free of any kind of blemishes. Niall was simply and truly perfect.

For a while, nothing really happened besides kissing, just when Niall suddenly moved his hand down Liam's body again, he caused his hips to jerk slightly, feeling another hand around him that wasn't his always felt a little too intense after a while. Their mouths slipped off of each other when Niall slowly started jerking Liam off, causing him to moan louder than planned. "G-God… Niall…."

"Good, yeah?" Not waiting for an answer, he moved his hand a bit quicker, other hand stroking the hair out of Liam's forehead gently, kissing it afterwards.

"Yeah… " Somewhere in the back of his mind Liam remembered what he had planned to do tonight, it's just, because of how often this had happened, Niall knew the fastest way to get Liam to the edge, but slowing down again as his stomach started to tighten, preventing him from coming right then and there. Now or never. "N-Ni, I…" 

"Want me to blow you?" As if it was just a normal question, Niall had whispered it into Liam's ear to make it even worse, biting his earlobe gently afterwards and making Liam's head spin. Plus, he was still getting him off meanwhile, pressing his thumb to the slit and making Liam hiss. Shit.

"Y-Yeah, but…" Even in a situation like this he didn't know how to say it, like, that one time before the situation had kinda led to it, but ever since then Niall had never taken the initiative again because he had promised he'd wait until Liam said he was ready. So why was this causing him to blush now?

"What's wrong?" Even though Liam had been panting like crazy, somehow Niall had still heard the change in his voice and he let go of Liam, worriedly watching his face. "You okay? I stopped, okay, I-"

"No… Niall, that's not it, I… " Trying to catch his breath was hard when Niall was cupping his face and pressing kisses to his cheek, as if to calm him down, that boy was just so caring, it was nearly ridiculous. Liam couldn't wait anymore, he loved him so much his head felt like bursting. "I'm ready now."

This caused silence, an uncomfortable one for Liam when Niall stayed serious, rubbing his thumb over Liam's cheekbone and just looking into his eyes for a bit. "Li, we don't have to just because I'm here, I can wait, I don't want you to be uncomfortable, I-"

"No, I'm serious, I've been thinking about it and I love you, Niall. I love you so much I couldn't imagine doing this with anyone else or being with anyone but you. And yeah, I'm a bit nervous, but I want it, really. I even threw Zayn out so we could be alone." Right, mentioning Zayn while lying naked on a bed with your boyfriend maybe wasn't really a turn on, but Liam had just gotten into it and then the words had bubbled out of him. Now that he had made the decision and told Niall, he wanted it even more than before.

"Are you sure?" There was a twinkle in Niall's eyes now that calmed Liam a bit, knowing that even though he had made him wait for 8 fucking months, he still hadn't gotten sick of it.

"Absolutely." Nothing had ever felt as good as saying this and seeing Niall smile afterwards, leaning down to kiss Liam's nose.

"Okay. Do you have…" He trailed off, because it was obvious what he meant and Liam nodded, grabbing a hold of Niall's hand that was still resting against his cheek.

"Yeah, in the drawer of my bedside table." No one could tell him that he hadn't really planned this out, besides, it would've been kinda dumb to not prepare for this in every possible way.

Niall nodded slowly, brushing his lips over Liam's before whispering against them. "But we'll take it slow, yeah? And if you want me to stop at any time you gotta tell me, not like last time, okay? Promise me."

"I promise." And he really meant it too, mostly because he was sure that he wouldn't need Niall to stop again this time, but also because he would do it since he could still clearly remember the look on Niall's face a few months ago.

It felt even more intense now when they kissed again, because Liam knew that this would turn into something more and now that they had talked about it, he couldn't wait anymore, flipping them around so he could be on top instead, keeping his weight on his elbows.

Niall closed his eyes in bliss as Liam kissed his neck gently, then going lower to his collar bones, very concerned about making Niall feel good too and treasure every inch of his body. Sometimes he still couldn't believe that he actually had access to all of this. 

While pressing his lips to Niall's beautifully pale skin over and over again, Liam felt a hand in his hair, gently brushing through until he reached Niall's nipples and just letting his breath wander over one nearly caused a few hairs to rip out. That was Niall's weak spot, definitely, good thing that Liam had found out about that so soon.

"Liam… " He whined, causing the other boy to chuckle gently before closing his lips around the nipple, swiping his tongue over it which caused Niall to buck his hips a bit, right into Liam's. "S-Shit… p-please… do the o-other one t-too…"

Liam did, of course, he would never ignore Niall's wishes, especially in a situation like this, so he took extra time to suck on the pink nub, rolling the other between his thumb and index finger before switching them off. Just this alone left Niall as a panting and squirming mess, he was fisting Liam's hair now, digging his fingernails into one of his arms. "L-Li… please let me take those goddamn p-pants o-off…. ugh, shit…"

"In a second." Moving down from his nipples, Liam came to one of his favorite's parts of Niall's body, his cute tummy. He knew that Niall often got a bit insecure about it, saying that he would never have as many muscles as Liam and that it would never be completely flat. It was flat of course and Niall was always exaggerating when he talked about Liam, so actually, his stomach was freaking perfect and Liam made sure his boyfriend knew how he felt, placing kisses all over. 

"Liam… please take my jeans off, I know you love my tummy, but…" Right.

So Liam kissed down to the waistband of Niall's boxers before sitting up and sharing a smile with his boyfriend while opening his pants just as easily as Niall had done with his before. Too much practice.

Within seconds they were both naked and Liam smirked when he saw Niall's eyes going a bit wider as he spread his legs a bit further to fit in between, thumbs stroking the blonde's hipbones gently. "Li, if you do what I think you're about to then this night is gonna be over in about five seconds."

"You'd be able to come within five seconds if I blow you? That's a compliment." Then he chuckled, enjoying the way Niall lied his head back, defeatedly letting out a sigh when Liam started kissing his inner thigh gently, getting closer to Niall's length but when he was right there, he made Niall groan as he just gave the same treatment to his other leg, never stopping to stroke his lower stomach and hipbones.

Niall's moan was almost obscenely loud as Liam kissed the head unexpectedly, wrapping his hand around the base and pulling the sensitive skin down a bit to nibble at it, quite enjoying the little whimpers leaving his boyfriend's mouth. "I-I changed m-my m-mind… i-it's t-two s-seconds n-now… aaah, g-god…"

Trying not to laugh, Liam decided not to torture Niall any longer, knowing that because of all the noise he'd probably get stares if he met any of the people living next to him tomorrow, but he couldn't care less as he took Niall in his mouth, careful not to use any teeth.

"I w-wasn't… aaah, Liam… j-joking… fuck, s-so good b-babe…" Of course Liam knew he'd have to stop before Niall actually came, but he kept it up for a bit, going slower whenever Niall's moans got even louder than they already were, he even bit in the back of his hand as Liam started bobbing his head. Which lasted for about ten seconds before a tight grip in Liam's hair pulled him off. "S-Stop, Liam, god…you're so good at this, I created a monster."

Before Liam could really laugh, because yeah, Niall had been the one to teach him how to give a blow job in the first place, the other boy had sat up as well, using the fact that he still had his hand in Liam's hair to pull him down and crash their lips together. Obviously not minding to taste his own precum in Liam's mouth, he deepened the kiss immediately, way more eager than before.

"You want me to do it?" Shivers were going down Liam's spine as Niall had kissed his way to his ear before whispering, they were still both sitting, holding onto each other tightly and Liam just nodded, too out of breath and too excited to talk. "Okay, get on your stomach, it'll be easier."

There was actually not even a question whether Niall should top or not, he had done this before, not as many times as with girls but he still knew how it worked and Liam trusted him completely, even if his stomach felt a bit funny as he got down, resting his head in between his arms.

"Okay…" Niall was more like, speaking to himself, he leaned over Liam briefly, kissing his naked shoulder blade softly and Liam closed his eyes at the feeling, not opening them up anymore as he heard his boyfriend opening said drawer, making a bit of a noise before moving down again. "Okay, Li, I'm not gonna lie, it'll hurt, but I'll try my best. Still, if it's too bad or if you just don't want it anymore, just say stop."

"I know, babe, I trust you…" Even though it wouldn't be Niall's fault at all if Liam couldn't take it, he knew the boy wouldn't hurt him on purpose.

"Alright…" Liam tried to blend the sounds out as Niall opened the lube, just trying to think of how much he wanted this and he really did because they had never come this far so it was quite a shock to have Niall's finger massaging his hole. He pressed his eyes closed harder as he felt the tip pushing in. "Breathe, Liam."

It did hurt, a lot, but Liam tried his best not to make a sound until Niall had one finger in, staying still to give him time to adjust and Liam wished he wouldn't have and just fastened everything up. The hand stroking his lower back didn't help that much either, it was calming, but the burning stretch was overtaking. Shit.

"Baby, you okay?" Knowing that Niall would stop immediately if he scrunched his face up, Liam had buried it in the pillow, slowly unclenching his teeth, nodding a bit.

"Keep going, I'm fine." His voice was muffled, but at least Niall did what he had been told, continuing to prepare Liam.

Fortunately, the second finger hurt a little less, probably because Liam felt kinda numb now, he really started to question whether it'd get good at any point at all, but his question was answered once Niall put another finger in, thrusting them in and slowly and brushing something Liam that made him see stars.

"Fuck… do that again." It had maybe been even better than anything they had done before, Niall pressed down on the spot again, causing Liam to moan into the pillow, his boyfriend letting out a chuckle that sounded very relieved.

"It's good, yeah?" Was that even worth a question?

In fact it was so good that Liam told Niall to get on with it, the friction of the mattress beneath him plus the now steady rhythm Niall thrusted his fingers in and out would've easily been enough to make him come in no time if he hadn't tried to hold back, slightly whining as Niall pulled out. "Just do it, please, I'm gonna be alright."

"Yeah…yeah, okay." Niall didn't sound as convinced as Liam as he ripped the condom package, preparing himself before coming to lean over Liam, hands on either side of his head and placing a few kisses into his hair. "'m gonna go slow, don't worry."

"I don't." Well, maybe Liam should've.

The tip was kinda alright, it hurt worse than three fingers had of course, but it was still bearable, Niall was breathing hard into Liam's ear now, obviously finding it hard to hold back, pushing in a little further and waiting, cursing a bit. "Fuck, you're still so tight…"

"Are you almost in?" Liam was very well aware that he sounded like a child asking whether the car ride was almost over, which was a more than ridiculous thing to think when his boyfriend's erection was up his ass, but he couldn't help it.

"Not even half." Not very encouraging, Niall sounded slightly panicked too, he kissed the back of Liam's neck this time, not doing anything.

"Then go half." Just so Liam would know how much more he'd have to take, it didn't really get better even though Niall had waited longer than before, it was even hard to talk without letting the pain show in his voice.

"You sure?" No.

"Yeah, just do it." Still, Niall hesitated, then he started pushing in again, not so slowly this time since he was trying to do what Liam had told him and that's when he decided that it had been the dumbest idea he had ever had in his life. In fact, it hurt so much that Liam couldn't even breath properly, biting into his arm and choking down a sob. He couldn't take it, if THAT was only halfway and he was nearly crying from it, he'd probably pass out later. "Stop! Niall, stop, please, it hurts, I-I…" 

Before Liam's first tear spilled over, Niall had already completely pulled out, immediately getting half off him and turning Liam to lie on his side as well. Not that moving could've increased the pain even more. "Hey, hey, it's alright, it's over, come here."

Liam felt liked the biggest idiot in the world really, but he still buried his face in Niall's neck, clinging tightly to the other boy as he tried to stop his tears, but damn, the burn still hadn't gone away. "I'm s-sorry I-I m-messed it u-up…"

"No, you didn't, come on Li, of course not. I should've prepped you more, it's my fault, not yours. My first time hurt really badly too, it's okay. Does it still hurt?" Niall's voice was all soft, he was rubbing his palm in between Liam's shoulder blades, kissing his ear, his cheek, his temple, anywhere he could reach, but Liam still wasn't able to answer. He couldn't believe he was such a pussy really, they had waited 8 months for this and he had to go and mess it up. "Please stop crying, baby, it's okay, everything's okay. Next time you'll just be top, it's no big deal, really."

"I j-just… w-wanted it to be tonight… I-I s-still d-do…" For some reason, this made Liam cry even more and Niall tightened his arms impossibly much, burying his face in Liam's hair. How could he still be so nice, Liam was the worst boyfriend in the world, like, they couldn't even have fucking sex, of course Niall didn't want to anymore tonight.

"We can do it tonight, too, if you want to. I just thought you didn't anymore, but I'll always want you, Liam. I just want to make it good for you because it's special, yeah? So you still wanna?" Really?!

"W-Well… yeah." Finally, Liam lifted his head again, seeing Niall's genuine smile made his stomach turn a bit, in a good way.

"Okay, come on then, stop crying. It'll be so good this time, I promise, I should've been bottom in the first place." The thing about Niall was, he always knew the right thing to say and right now as he kissed Liam's tears away before drying his face with his thumb too, he remained all smily, not forced, but really, and he talked as if this was all completely alright, as if he didn't even mind at all and as if he loved being bottom anyway. Liam couldn't help but feel his heart swell at this, of course Niall wouldn't be mad, it was _Niall_ for gods sake, his perfect boyfriend.

"You're amazing, Nialler, did you know that? Absolutely amazing." It had to be said, they had both sat up again, Liam's arms around Niall's waist as the blonde just smiled a little before cupping Liam's face and kissing him deeply, looking into his eyes afterwards.

"I'm not, I just truly love you, Liam, and I wanna treat you right, it's not a big deal at all, yeah? So just do what I did before, okay, you won't hurt me." Then he pecked Liam's lips once more before getting onto his stomach, completely trusting his boyfriend to do this right.

Niall really was a lot better at taking this than Liam, maybe a little bit because Liam used too much lube because damn, that bottle was weird to handle, and he also was terrified of hurting his boyfriend since he knew how it felt like, so he went extra slowly, checking on Niall twelve million times before doing anything, but he seemed to be completely fine.

So when they got about as far as they had been fifteen minutes before, Niall stopped Liam to turn onto his back before taking one of his hands and pulling him down over Niall again. "I wanna look at you."

"Okay." This was more calming for Liam as well, looking into Niall's eyes, being able to kiss him and make sure he'd see the slightest hint of pain so he could stop immediately.

"Go on then, babe." Seeing his smile, Liam couldn't help but press their lips together the second he pushed the tip in, Niall grabbing tighter at his shoulders immediately, but when Liam tried to pull away and ask if he should stop, the arms around him just tightened, not letting him go, Niall deepening the kiss with a low moan. 

They only stopped kissing when Liam's hips were flush against Niall's, it was probably just as amazing as having Niall's fingers inside of him, the urge to move was almost unbearable but he held back for Niall's sake, pressing their sweaty foreheads together. "You're okay, right? I didn't hurt you?"

"I'm perfectly fine, Li, no worries… go slow if you do, okay?" He hadn't planned on anything else, before doing it though, Liam pressed a kiss to Niall's nose, brushing his sticky hair away from his face gently and finding one of his hands again to intertwine their fingers, happy to see his boyfriend smile. 

"I love you." Just to say it one more time, Liam lifted his hips a little, just to try it, watching Niall's face closely as he rocked back inside, immediately wanting to go faster because, shit, it was _so_ good, just like Niall had said.

"I love you too, it's fine, just go faster, it feels amazing." Encouraged by that, Liam tried a little bit of a harder thrust that made Niall pull him back down again to fit their mouths together, immediately nudging his lips open to lick into his mouth.

Because of everything they had done before, all the excitement building up without any of them cumming, both of them got really close to the edge again, they weren't really able to kiss properly anymore, more like breathing into each other's mouth, Niall's fingernails breaking skin on Liam's shoulder. "You o-okay, Ni?"

Niall just nodded, moaning again as Liam changed the angle of his thrusts a little bit, desperate to make this as good for Niall as possible, he moved one hand down between there bodies until he could wrap it around Niall's length, flicking his wrist in time with his thrusts. "F-Fuck just like this… I'm s-so close, Li… aaah, g-go f-faster…"

The bed actually creaked a little when Liam did speed up a little more, staring into Niall's red and sweaty face, pressing his lips to the boy's temple as he tried to hold back, not wanting to come before Niall. "Come on, babe…"

"Ugh… Li… Liam…fuck, Liam!" It was just a mantra of his boyfriend's name that came over Niall's lips as he grabbed Liam's biceps even tighter, squeezing their intertwined hands into the mattress as he came with another obscenely loud moan, Liam fucking him through it.

Feeling Niall clench around him and coming into Liam's hand did it for Liam too, he buried his face in between Niall's neck and shoulder, not groaning quite as loud as his boyfriend had but still way too loud for being in a dorm, it was just the hardest he had ever come before, Liam had no idea how he had managed to wait for so long, nothing had ever felt as amazing and intimate as being inside Niall.

Liam stilled his hips as he came down from his high, lying on top of Niall and not lifting his head but still keeping his weight on his elbows so he wouldn't crush the smaller boy. "That's been… overwhelming."

"Yeah… that's the best I've ever felt, like, ever." Hearing Niall say that made Liam smile against his skin, he placed a kiss onto Niall's throat before lifting his head to look at him, not having pulled out yet. "I love you so much, babe."

"I love you too, Ni." Since Niall looked like he'd never be able to move again, his hand dropping from Liam's body, Liam quickly stretched to get a tissue from his bedside table, pecking Niall's lips. "I'll clean us up, okay?"

"Hm, yeah." It looked like he had fall asleep, even though Liam trying to pull out as carefully as possible had Niall's eyes go a bit wider again from nearly being closed, he hummed at Liam kissing his stomach. "We should probably shower… but I can't move." 

"I see that." Liam chuckled slightly over how cute Niall was when he was sleepy, he quickly wiped his hand with the tissue, tying the condom up and throwing everything away before going back to the bed where Niall was already stretching his hands out towards him. "You really wanna go to sleep like this? Not that I mind."

"I don't know yet, I can't think when you're not here to cuddle me." He probably said that because Liam took too long to untangle the blanket and pull Niall against his chest before tugging both of them in, the other boy snuggling up against him immediately. "That's better."

"Yeah… it is." The way their skin was sticking together, no clothes in between their bodies and the way Niall smelled so much like himself now was one of Liam's favorite things. He gently brushed his fingers through Niall's hair to keep it from falling into his face because it was all sweaty, holding them close together with his free arm. "Thanks for being my boyfriend, Niall."

"It's a pleasure." Niall lifted his head quickly, sleepily and lazily kissing Liam's lips, almost purring at the way his boyfriend was playing with his hair, rubbing a hand just a little bit beneath Liam's arm pit. And then he just dropped the bomb. "By the way, I'm transferring next semester."

"Wait… what?!" Liam's eyes went wider than they had in a long time, he stopped all of his movements, just freezing and staring at Niall who still only looked tired over anything else, but he was now smiling slightly too.

"Yeah, why do you think I brought all of my stuff? I'm not going back to Ireland, I'm staying here, I even got a dorm room, it's a little away from yours, but it's single. And I'm already written into the courses as well, dad threw a bit of a fit but I convinced him in the end and he said that he had already given up on me being as smart as Greg and I could as well go to college here." This couldn't be real.

"You're _staying_?! Here? And you're telling me this _now_? When did you decide that, what… Niall?!" Finally, this was all Liam had dreamed about, having his first time with Niall and being allowed to keep him here with him, seeing his boyfriend every day if he wanted, and hell, he did, but the happy news didn't come through for a few moments, so Liam just stared.

"I decided after Christmas break and not seeing you for two months, it was hell, really, I never wanna do that again, it's been the worst decision of my life. I wanted it to be a surprise and actually, I only wanted to tell you this on the day I was supposed to leave again, but y'know… post sex makes me talkative." He grinned a bit wider, cuddling closer into Liam. "Aren't you happy?"

"Hell, I'm SO happy right now. Shit." Finally, Liam allowed that smile to spread across his face, he couldn't have wiped it off even if he had wanted to, Niall would stay, his baby wouldn't leave anymore, no more Skype talks and endless nights of not being able to sleep.

"Good, me too." And then he sealed their lips again, not being able to kiss Liam for very long because the other boy was so hyper now, he felt like he could've run a marathon, which probably wasn't a good idea since he was naked but that didn't change anything about the smile he couldn't get off his face, infecting Niall. "Jesus, you really are happy about this."

"Of course I am, you dork. Come on now, we're gonna go shower, I can't have you sleeping in now because I feel like I could stay up the whole night talking." That being said, Liam threw the covers back over motivated, laughing when Niall didn't wanna stand up as he pulled his arm gently, picking him up bridal style as soon as he did.

"Liam, we got _forever_ , why do we have to shower _now_?!" And while carrying a half mad, half giggly boyfriend to his bathroom, Liam thought that yeah, they really did have forever now, and he couldn't have been happier.

Sure, their families still weren't perfect and they had never told Niall's parents about them dating, but what mattered a lot more was that they had somehow managed to mend each others kinda broken lives. Niall helping Liam to get into college, Liam being there when Niall had desperately needed a friend and being that person for each other that they had never had before. Even if Liam's realization about Niall being, as Harry used to say, the love of his life, had come a little late, it became clearer every day now. They were exactly what the other needed.


End file.
